Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives $306.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $306.00.

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $266.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $258.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.99, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $254.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’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 value of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,072,660.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 63,891 shares of company stock worth $16,306,944. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

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