Channing Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Channing Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,713 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,117 shares during the quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

CRM stock traded up $1.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $273.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,041,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $294.23 and a 200 day moving average of $267.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

About Salesforce

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.