Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 3,945 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 206,982 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,945 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $69,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1858 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. 1858 Wealth Management LLC now owns 958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Tanager Wealth Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $231,000. Bank Hapoalim BM raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 24,135 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the period. RFG Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 2,592 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $344.07 on Wednesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $338.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $298.64. The company has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.