Cibc World Market Inc. Grows Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 228,938 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,464 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $76,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 80,591 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,944,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,933 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $361,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock worth $383,286,905 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $343.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $328.74 billion, a PE ratio of 56.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $338.53 and a 200-day moving average of $296.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.