Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0% Following Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares rose 0% on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $375.00 to $400.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $328.80 and last traded at $325.01. Approximately 985,090 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 4,031,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $324.93.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CRM. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 55.0% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 18,813 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,675 shares in the last quarter. Morling Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $304,000. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 93.4% during the second quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 1,938 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 25,557 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.6% during the second quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 52,598 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $334.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

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.