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

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 355,126 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,671 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Salesforce were worth $118,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 7,814 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,613,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,861 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $553,000. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,941 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $9.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $308.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,950,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,173,850. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $334.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $304.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.