Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 79.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,980 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 31,563 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management raised its position in Salesforce by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after purchasing an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $2,178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,376 shares of company stock worth $15,878,005. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $255.32 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $253.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $247.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.92, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.55.

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.