Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded up 0.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $284.47 and last traded at $283.23. 1,199,268 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,517,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $280.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.0 %

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’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.86. The firm has a market cap of $277.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,359,560.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,359,560.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,133,273. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,922,223,000 after purchasing an additional 736,986 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently 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.