Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 1.3% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $350.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $298.78 and last traded at $297.73. Approximately 902,943 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 6,296,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.77.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 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 $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $28,362,888.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 83,581 shares of company stock worth $22,616,017. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nvwm LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.5% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.6% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,269 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,537,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8 %

The company has a market cap of $285.78 billion, a PE ratio of 51.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $271.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.78.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

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.