Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $400.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CRM. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wedbush raised their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.86.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $361.99 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $308.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.43. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $346.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.