Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Raises Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,019 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Eight investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,510 shares of company stock valued at $42,475,538 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $339.12 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $296.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.98. The firm has a market cap of $324.20 billion, a PE ratio of 58.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.