Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 71.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,021 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,800 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. OMC Financial Services LTD increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $272.36 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $260.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $266.57 and a 200-day moving average of $301.70.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Millham sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $1,120,391.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,570,312.44. This represents a 41.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.