CCM Investment Advisers LLC Buys 572 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,170 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 2.0% of CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $16,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total transaction of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,407,327 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total value of $3,249,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,688,171,467.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 232,842 shares of company stock valued at $60,982,983. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.4 %

CRM stock traded up $3.40 on Friday, reaching $252.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,974,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,696,709. The firm has a market cap of $244.69 billion, a PE ratio of 45.23, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.01. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

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.