Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Lowers Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,438 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,024 shares in the company, valued at $3,154,496.40. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,933 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,533,528 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of CRM opened at $257.64 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $271.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.73. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 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. The firm has a market cap of $246.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.