Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $43.88 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 166,765 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,713 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $43,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Graypoint LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $276.33. The stock had a trading volume of 4,198,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,706,728. The company’s fifty day moving average is $298.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.87.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,913,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,590,789,261.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,590,789,261.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 912,375 shares of company stock valued at $264,376,996. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.