Aigen Investment Management LP Buys New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,425 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,814,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $311,998,000 after buying an additional 931,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robin L. Washington purchased 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at $12,799,331.45. This represents a 4.06 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. The trade was a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock worth $383,156,227 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie cut their price target on Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Northland Securities restated an "outperform" rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $4.71 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $292.05. 6,608,388 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,871,845. The firm has a market cap of $279.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's fifty day moving average is $325.91 and its 200 day moving average is $308.21. 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 one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.16%.

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.