The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $809.46 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,421,133 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 218,868 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.7% of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.25% of Salesforce worth $809,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Invst LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 17,003 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,654,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 7,332 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,007,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its position in Salesforce by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,047 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 570.4% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,446 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $14,903,000 after buying an additional 46,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $350.56.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $268.46. 4,610,632 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,812,489. The company has a market capitalization of $258.09 billion, a PE ratio of 44.15, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $271.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $308.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 26.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,051 shares of company stock worth $15,027,714. 3.20% 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.