Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Grows Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 17.7%, now holding over 1 million shares, which represents approximately 4.0% of their total holdings.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce, reducing his ownership slightly to nearly 12 million shares, valued at over $3 billion.
• Salesforce reported quarterly earnings of $2.58 EPS, exceeding estimates and marking a 7.6% revenue increase year-over-year, totaling approximately $9.83 billion.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,007,088 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 151,628 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 4.0% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned 0.10% of Salesforce worth $270,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Notis McConarty Edward boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 71.6% during the 1st quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 121.9% during the first quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 355,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $95,222,000 after purchasing an additional 195,000 shares during the period. Delaney Dennis R boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 66.1% during the first quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 5,694 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,266 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,948 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Finally, Mathes Company Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 396.9% during the 1st quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,300,000 after buying an additional 9,823 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $240.09. 8,807,591 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,971,969. The company has a market cap of $229.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 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. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $263.47 and a 200 day moving average of $279.50.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,479 shares of company stock worth $12,457,591 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

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.