Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $231.94 Million Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. has sold 61,489 shares of Salesforce Inc., reducing its position by 6.6%, but still holds 864,302 shares, making it the firm's 12th largest holding.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.58 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, indicating a year-over-year growth of 7.6%.
• Several institutional investors, including Capital A Wealth Management and CBIZ Investment Advisory Services, have significantly increased their stakes in Salesforce, reflecting continued interest from major market players.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 864,302 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 61,489 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.2% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.09% of Salesforce worth $231,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.43.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $256.37. 7,318,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,225,816. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $257.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.09 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.56, for a total value of $559,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,960,740,087.76. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 59,327 shares of company stock worth $15,201,738 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Profile

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.