Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stake Lessened by Knuff & Co LLC

Knuff & Co LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,540 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $1,657,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,493 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,024,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Power Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $1,731,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 170,474 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $44,858,000 after acquiring an additional 41,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $1.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $273.66. 4,041,636 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $294.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.17. The company has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.