Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Increased to $350.00 by Analysts at Raymond James

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target increased by Raymond James from $325.00 to $350.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Macquarie decreased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $301.91.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $256.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $253.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.54. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.19. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.90, for a total transaction of $1,104,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,912,044.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,964 shares of company stock worth $27,956,647. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth approximately $910,220,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $874,748,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.