Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 78,019 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.6% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $339.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.20 billion, a PE ratio of 58.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $296.26 and its 200-day moving average is $268.98. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital increased their price target on Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.66.

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.