Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 210,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,322 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $57,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 51.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $5.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $363.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 554,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,385,485. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $316.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $347.42 billion, a PE ratio of 58.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.24.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,498 shares of company stock valued at $40,983,349 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.