Cibc World Market Inc. Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 228,938 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 26,464 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $76,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock worth $383,286,905. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $341.80. The stock had a trading volume of 5,776,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,314,254. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $327.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.75. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.