Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $340.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective raised by TD Cowen from $290.00 to $340.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $342.02 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day moving average of $268.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.