Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,649 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,333 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $55,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after acquiring an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $258.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $268.39 and its 200-day moving average is $298.23. The stock has a market cap of $247.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.08.

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.