Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 216,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,365 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $59,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after buying an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 25.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ValueAct Holdings L.P. lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.3% during the second quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 3,914,309 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,006,369,000 after buying an additional 428,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $294.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.60. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Salesforce 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.