Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 900 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,655 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $52,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $333.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.72. The stock has a market cap of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136. 3.20% 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.