Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 228,581 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,456 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $62,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after buying an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CRM shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $331.56 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The stock has a market cap of $316.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.66, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $283.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.