Rakuten Securities Inc. Purchases Shares of 624 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 624 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $164,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $2,499,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $11,074,012. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 907,149 shares of company stock worth $262,952,448 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $276.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.04 billion, a PE ratio of 65.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.89. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.57 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

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.