FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Sells 1,500 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co reduced its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,916 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.47.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $307.19 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.