Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 0.3%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price shot up 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $259.32 and last traded at $257.76. 1,106,365 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 6,511,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.01. The company has a market capitalization of $257.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, Director Oscar Munoz acquired 2,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $243.69 per share, for a total transaction of $499,808.19. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,026 shares in the company, valued at $1,712,165.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,576 shares of company stock valued at $16,957,573. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after buying an additional 18,397 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $207,756,000 after buying an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XN LP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.