Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price rose 0.1% during trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $350.00 to $360.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $279.70 and last traded at $270.59. Approximately 2,376,459 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 5,651,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.37.

CRM has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $110,040.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total transaction of $4,211,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,671,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,838,726,701.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $110,040.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $297.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

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.