Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. decreased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 32.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 132,340 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 63,664 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $35,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.49, for a total value of $543,352.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,525,280.79. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,782 shares of company stock worth $12,626,046. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.89.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $244.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $233.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

About Salesforce

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.