Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $313.37.

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce 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 value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. 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 available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,573 shares of company stock valued at $42,319,874. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. XN LP raised its position in Salesforce by 24.2% in 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. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $2,178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.6 %

CRM opened at $321.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.52. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $208.84 and a 1-year high of $322.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date 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.