Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 407,543 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,215 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $107,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after purchasing an additional 10,252,257 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $401,215,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 99.7% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,196,861 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $675,370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595,733 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $1.55 on Friday, hitting $270.37. 4,913,553 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,856,009. The company has a market capitalization of $262.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $297.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total transaction of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.