Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Grows Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 733.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,500 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 2.4% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings, 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.5% in the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.8% in the third quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,299 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 226.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.0 %

CRM traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $276.63. 6,283,041 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,718,907. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $296.91 and a 200 day moving average of $263.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.57 and a 12-month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.62, for a total value of $4,179,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,701,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,817,418,870.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.62, for a total transaction of $4,179,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,701,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,817,418,870.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 611,379 shares of company stock worth $179,698,420 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.