Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1.3% – Should You Buy?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $315.76 and last traded at $314.70. Approximately 1,486,009 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 6,231,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $310.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.37.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $307.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.73, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.86.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,573 shares of company stock valued at $42,319,874 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. XN LP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,284,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,387,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $2,178,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.