Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 37,039 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its Salesforce stake by 8.9%, selling 37,039 shares and retaining 377,259 shares valued at approximately $59.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $3.88, beating estimates of $3.13, while revenue reached $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, yielding about 0.9% annually.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $249.51, although several firms recently lowered their targets and some maintain neutral or underperform ratings.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 377,259 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 37,039 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Salesforce were worth $59,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $197.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11. The firm has a market cap of $161.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.16. The business's fifty day moving average is $170.99 and its 200-day moving average is $182.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Susquehanna assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Macquarie Infrastructure lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.51.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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