Kessler Investment Group LLC Sells 6,322 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Kessler Investment Group LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,124 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 6,322 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 7.9% of Kessler Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kessler Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Veery Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.0% during the third quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 33,909 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,405 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in Salesforce by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,466 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,278,000. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 15,131 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,474,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Salesforce to a “negative” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.14.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $0.67 on Thursday, reaching $225.23. 2,490,522 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,714,363. The company has a 50-day moving average of $224.73 and a 200-day moving average of $192.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $185.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.