Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Has $89.59 Million Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 5.5% during the first quarter, holding 333,838 shares valued at approximately $89.59 million.
• Salesforce reported quarterly earnings of $2.58 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenues reaching $9.83 billion for the quarter.
• The company's recent quarterly dividend was set at $0.416, yielding 0.7%, while the payout ratio stands at 25.98%.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ trimmed its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 333,838 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 19,445 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 0.5% of Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Salesforce were worth $89,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 32,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Notis McConarty Edward grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,036,482 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $274,802,000 after acquiring an additional 15,782 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 104,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,133,000 after acquiring an additional 31,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 355,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $95,222,000 after acquiring an additional 195,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.56, for a total value of $559,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,960,740,087.76. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 59,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,201,738 over the last ninety days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.43.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

CRM traded up $1.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $256.37. 7,354,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,243,193. The stock has a market cap of $245.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $257.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.67.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. 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.