Brokerages Set Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) PT at $377.63

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, thirty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $375.53.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of CRM opened at $309.54 on Monday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $333.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total value of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $15,342,415. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 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.