Rakuten Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,111 shares of company stock worth $9,299,283. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.0%

CRM stock opened at $263.63 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $268.49 and a 200-day moving average of $299.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $252.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.77 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. DA Davidson reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

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.