Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by SBI Securities Co. Ltd.

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,466 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $823,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 117.2% in the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Elwood Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $1,337,000. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.5% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 23,828 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,394,000 after acquiring an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $441,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $332,922.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,196,573.30. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,534 shares of company stock worth $10,028,795 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $259.45. The company had a trading volume of 6,529,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,259,348. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $272.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.49. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $248.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.60, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Company 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.