Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,654 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $733,805,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,624,520 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $462,063,000 after acquiring an additional 794,506 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.7 %

Salesforce stock opened at $360.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $344.52 billion, a PE ratio of 59.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $337.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.