Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Buys 2,042 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,807 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Salesforce were worth $44,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $0.07 on Monday, reaching $262.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,692,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,566,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.05, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $270.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.85. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 4,586 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $1,163,284.76. Following the transaction, the insider owned 33,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,440,029.18. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,819 shares of company stock worth $9,111,823 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.