Salesforce’s (CRM) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $300.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $301.91.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $256.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $248.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $253.98 and its 200 day moving average is $271.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.19. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.71, for a total value of $3,535,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,362,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,913,924,097.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,964 shares of company stock valued at $27,956,647 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,576 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,595 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,242 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,239,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.