Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Aigen Investment Management LP

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 169.3% in Q1, owning 14,610 shares worth approximately $3.92 million.
• Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, recently sold 2,250 shares for around $558,900, but still retains over $2.95 billion in shares.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Salesforce, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $385.00 and Wells Fargo at $275.00.

Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 169.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,610 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 9,185 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.6% of Aigen Investment Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,389 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,467,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 1,111 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crux Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $1,378,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.6%

Salesforce stock traded down $1.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $231.40. 13,176,549 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,166,282. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $221.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company's 50-day moving average is $262.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,104,501,823.22. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,979 shares of company stock worth $13,530,369 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

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.