Brokerages Set Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Target Price at $361.42

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $361.42.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Oscar Munoz bought 3,882 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,967.04. This trade represents a 48.76 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 154,793 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $42,368,000 after purchasing an additional 9,229 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its stake in Salesforce by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 38,085 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,617 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Salesforce by 319.6% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 94,585 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,889,000 after buying an additional 72,045 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.9 %

CRM stock opened at $254.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $291.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.59. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

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.