Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $574.57 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 26.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,141,049 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 453,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Salesforce worth $574,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,895,776.40. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $613,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of CRM stock traded up $2.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $271.58. The company had a trading volume of 5,031,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,543,873. The firm has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $272.28 and a 200 day moving average of $291.78.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

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.