Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given “Outperform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $300.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reissued a buy rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $306.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $266.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $258.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $254.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.18. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total value of $1,400,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,193,087.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,891 shares of company stock worth $16,306,944. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,922,223,000 after purchasing an additional 736,986 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.