Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 672,979 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 54.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,912,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 672,979 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $491,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fox Hill Wealth Management raised its stake in Salesforce by 4.0% in the first quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Glassman Wealth Services grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the first quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% in the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,876 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock valued at $16,957,573. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $265.87 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.82, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

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.