Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 1.8%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price rose 1.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $260.85 and last traded at $260.78. Approximately 2,457,573 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 6,925,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 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 research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $252.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total value of $4,502,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,951,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,887,162,963.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,951,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,887,162,963.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 2,018 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $524,680.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 494,952 shares of company stock valued at $135,205,453 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,824 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,398,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 5.4% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,024 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.2% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 11,065 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $68,742,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,112,424 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $225,579,000 after purchasing an additional 24,177 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Company 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.