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

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $374.47.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $330.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued 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 is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % 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 valued at $381,283,706 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.