Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stake Boosted by Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 733.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 2.4% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,653.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,300 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $189,779,000 after acquiring an additional 718,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $114,521,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $276.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,283,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,907. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $296.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.28. The firm has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total transaction of $4,110,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,812,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,510,961,967.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total value of $4,110,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,812,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,510,961,967.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 611,379 shares of company stock valued at $179,698,420 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.