Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $564.05 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure 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 approximately 4.8% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned about 0.22% of Salesforce worth $564,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,387,000 after acquiring an additional 10,656 shares during the period. Finally, XN LP grew its position in Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after acquiring an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.19.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,122.20. The trade was a 44.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $323.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $309.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $289.68 and its 200 day moving average is $267.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued 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 payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.