Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,052 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 2,080 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lifted its position in Salesforce by 506.1% in the third quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 200 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 113.4% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 207 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. TimeScale Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 576.9% in the 3rd quarter. TimeScale Financial Inc. now owns 264 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 350.0% in the 2nd quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 225 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. 75.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Northland Securities upped their target price on Salesforce from $150.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 29th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $165.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 186 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.59, for a total transaction of $28,939.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $198,066.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 186 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.59, for a total value of $28,939.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,273 shares in the company, valued at $198,066.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 924 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.55, for a total value of $118,780.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,217,339.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,568 shares of company stock valued at $6,158,627 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.60% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $173.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $126.34 and a fifty-two week high of $222.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $161.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.29. The company has a market capitalization of $173.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 824.71, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.99 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 4.48% and a net margin of 0.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to buy up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Company Profile

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Salesforce, Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform.

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