Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 1.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 1.5% on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $325.00 to $390.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $347.38 and last traded at $346.40. 1,272,164 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,284,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.15.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,920,275.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $326.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.43, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

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.