Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 1.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRMGet Free Report) traded up 1.5% on Wednesday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $270.00 to $340.00. Loop Capital currently has a hold rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $347.38 and last traded at $346.40. 1,272,164 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,284,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.15.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.23.

View Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during 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. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $910,220,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $283.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRMGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

About Salesforce

(Get Free Report)

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.

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