FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Has $1.48 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,416 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in 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 worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total transaction of $1,104,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,920,275.57. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.23.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $331.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $316.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $283.28 and a 200 day moving average of $265.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.