Norges Bank Invests $3.60 Billion in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 10,767,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Salesforce accounts for 0.5% of Norges Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $280.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $269.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $311.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.74.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Brian Millham sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $1,120,391.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,570,312.44. This represents a 41.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,875 shares of company stock valued at $13,580,649. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.