Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 226 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. decreased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,654 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,000. Williams & Novak LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ now owns 5,176 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,281 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $235,254.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,694.92. This represents a 36.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $360.00 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $337.23 and a 200 day moving average of $295.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $344.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.