Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0% Following Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price rose 0% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $375.00 to $400.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $328.80 and last traded at $325.01. Approximately 985,090 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 4,031,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $324.93.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CRM. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 4.8% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 909,821 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $233,915,000 after purchasing an additional 41,630 shares during the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 250,647 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $64,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares during the period. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 87,120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $22,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $335.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.62 billion, a PE ratio of 53.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.