Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Has $95.22 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 121.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 355,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,000 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $95,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.92, for a total transaction of $587,070.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,107,967,105.32. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $332,922.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,196,573.30. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,069 shares of company stock valued at $9,698,893. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4%

CRM stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $263.36. 1,839,810 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,546,036. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.77 billion, a PE ratio of 41.22, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $270.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.85.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. DA Davidson restated an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.16.

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.