Trust Co of Kansas Cuts Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Trust Co of Kansas cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,058 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 3.0% of Trust Co of Kansas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Trust Co of Kansas’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CRM. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.08.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,024 shares in the company, valued at $3,154,496.40. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of CRM opened at $271.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $269.02 and a 200 day moving average of $295.94.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Salesforce Company 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.