Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Samsara Inc. in the fourth quarter, taking 531,310 shares valued at about $18.8 million and leaving it with 0.09% of the company, according to its latest SEC filing. The move came as several other institutional investors also added to their Samsara holdings.
Brighton Jones LLC also bought a fresh position in the company worth about $13.5 million, while Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake by 100.3% in the first quarter to 96,142 shares valued at $3.69 million after adding 48,135 shares. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings by 2,444.6% to 17,787 shares worth $682,000, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position 3.4% to 10,168 shares worth $390,000, and Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake 142.4% to 68,860 shares worth $2.74 million. Institutional investors now own 96.02% of Samsara’s stock.
The buying comes after a sharp stretch of trading and fresh analyst calls around the software company. Samsara stock opened Monday at $29.95, near its 50-day average of $30.17 and below its 200-day average of $33.90. The shares have traded between $23.38 and $48.40 over the past year, and the company’s market value stood at $17.39 billion. Several firms have also moved on the name in recent weeks, with Weiss Ratings reissuing a sell (d-) rating on Jan. 22, Goldman Sachs setting a $45 target on March 2, Piper Sandler raising its target to $39 from $37 on March 6 and Zacks Research upgrading the stock to strong-buy on March 13.
Samsara’s latest quarterly results, reported on March 5, helped explain some of the attention. The company earned 18 cents a share on revenue of $444.3 million, topping Wall Street estimates of 13 cents a share on $422.29 million in sales. Revenue rose 28.3% from a year earlier, when the company earned 11 cents a share, although the business still reported a negative return on equity of 0.72% and a negative net margin of 0.56%. The tension for investors is plain: institutions keep adding while the stock trades below its longer-term average and the company’s valuation remains difficult to square with its negative earnings base.