Mizuho Markets Cayman LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 25.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 736 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 0.8% of Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 11.6% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,269 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.96 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $286.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.64.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.51.

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.