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

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 80.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 has a 50-day moving average of $333.34 and a 200-day moving average of $305.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,342,415. This trade represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the firm’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 $216,646.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,361,054.76. This represents a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

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.