Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 22,671 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 355,126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,671 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $118,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Alliance raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 7,814 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,861 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,960,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $553,000. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,941 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,330,000 after buying an additional 1,223 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.5 %

CRM opened at $324.19 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $335.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $304.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total value of $2,041,607.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,342,415. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,117,641 shares of company stock valued at $386,408,308 over the last ninety days. 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.