Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,086 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,299 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 226.5% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $273.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,844,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,686,619. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $265.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.