Oppenheimer Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Oppenheimer restated their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $385.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $330.00.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $342.02 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.53. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid 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 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after acquiring an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XN LP lifted its stake in Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.