Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $425.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $385.00 to $425.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $361.99 on Wednesday. The firm 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $308.26 and its 200 day moving average is $272.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.