Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $769,000 Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 80.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,300 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,200 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE CRM opened at $309.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $333.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.53.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.