Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.7%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price fell 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $252.22 and last traded at $252.94. 1,013,195 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,504,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.55.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $244.91 billion, a PE ratio of 45.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,376 shares of company stock worth $15,878,005. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the period. Finally, TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,115,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.