UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $275.00 to $360.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Eight 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $294.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.53. 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 company has a market capitalization 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 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,622.79. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.