Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 13,980 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 15.4% during the first quarter, now owning 76,627 shares valued at approximately $20.56 million.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.58 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.6%.
• Insider selling included CEO Marc Benioff and others, with a total of 46,479 shares sold in three months worth over $12 million.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 13,980 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth $197,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 55.3% in the first quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the period. Fiduciary Family Office LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth $1,420,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 10.0% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 50,956 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,675,000 after purchasing an additional 4,621 shares during the period. Finally, Gifford Fong Associates lifted its position in Salesforce by 138.8% in the first quarter. Gifford Fong Associates now owns 43,009 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $11,542,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CRM. Mizuho reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Erste Group Bank cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $240.09. 8,807,591 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,971,969. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $263.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $279.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,479 shares of company stock worth $12,457,591 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.