JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $310.00 to $340.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CRM opened at $342.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $294.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.