Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,060,741 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 220,358 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 4.8% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.22% of Salesforce worth $564,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Salesforce by 48.3% in 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. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $326.19.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $2.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $325.70. 3,565,206 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,295,385. The stock has a market cap of $311.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86. The firm's 50 day moving average is $289.68 and its 200 day moving average is $267.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.