Intact Investment Management Inc. Purchases 660 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,870 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after buying an additional 121,436 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,251,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,064,978,000 after buying an additional 19,888 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $948,676,000 after buying an additional 309,881 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,198,494 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $648,591,000 after purchasing an additional 444,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Argus upped their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $274.29. 3,754,585 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The company has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.76 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

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.