Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Coverage Initiated at Macquarie

Macquarie started coverage on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $370.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CRM. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.24.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.0 %

Salesforce stock opened at $354.31 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $339.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.27, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,498 shares of company stock worth $40,983,349 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 164.7% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,545 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Salesforce by 32.7% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 51,873 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,032,000 after purchasing an additional 12,785 shares during the period. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the second quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 16,780 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,314,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.