AMF Tjanstepension AB Has $378.42 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 18.5%, owning over 1.4 million shares valued at approximately $378.4 million.
• Salesforce reported earnings per share of $2.58, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues of $9.83 billion for the last quarter.
• Analysts have adjusted price targets for Salesforce, with Barclays lowering its target from $425 to $347, while others set targets ranging from $255 to $400.

AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,410,021 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 220,090 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 2.8% of AMF Tjanstepension AB's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned 0.15% of Salesforce worth $378,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations grew its stake in Salesforce by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations now owns 31,818 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 58.8% in the first quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 6,252 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in Salesforce by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 2,860 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,819,944 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $488,400,000 after purchasing an additional 187,009 shares during the period. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.40, for a total value of $558,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,958,834,236.40. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,479 shares of company stock worth $12,457,591. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.3%

CRM stock traded down $0.79 on Friday, hitting $240.09. 8,807,591 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,971,969. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business's fifty day moving average is $263.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.50.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. 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 earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Salesforce Company 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.