Chilton Capital Management LLC Acquires 4,650 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 107,456 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,650 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.2% of Chilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Chilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $28,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9%

CRM stock opened at $271.58 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.