KPP Advisory Services LLC Has $2.78 Million Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 40.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,983 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,082 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $68,473.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,154,496.40. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $268.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $269.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $256.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.96, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. 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.