Distillate Capital Partners LLC Makes New $33.66 Million Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 130,911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $33,657,000. Salesforce makes up about 1.8% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management raised its position in Salesforce by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after acquiring an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Salesforce by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after acquiring an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XN LP raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 5,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.22, for a total value of $1,526,771.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $442,723.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,633 shares of company stock valued at $18,100,349. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $264.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $256.02 billion, a PE ratio of 47.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.