Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Has $1.74 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,791 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 0.7% of Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Interval Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 36,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,842,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Salesforce by 3.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 648,753 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $195,189,000 after buying an additional 21,298 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Salesforce by 47.3% during the first quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 352,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $106,015,000 after buying an additional 113,000 shares in the last quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp now owns 681,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $205,345,000 after acquiring an additional 92,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,047,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 428,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total value of $4,303,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,512,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 305,042 shares of company stock worth $81,019,465. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.3 %

Salesforce stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $257.91. 3,941,446 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,784,922. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $250.63 and its 200-day moving average is $275.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.39, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

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.