First Hawaiian Bank Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,326 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in 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 buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $326.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,752,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,617,856. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $312.62 billion, a PE ratio of 53.73, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CRM. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

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.