Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Upgraded to Outperform by Northland Securities

Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $400.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $270.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CRM. DA Davidson increased their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial reiterated a buy rating and set a $315.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler upgraded Salesforce from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the company from $268.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $310.74.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.2 %

Salesforce stock opened at $279.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.75. The firm has a market cap of $270.82 billion, a PE ratio of 50.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,624.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,624.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,185 shares of company stock valued at $18,773,713 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 28,142 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,703,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Weybosset Research & Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Weybosset Research & Management LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,044 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 6,076 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7,453.1% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 120,850 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,078,000 after buying an additional 119,250 shares during the period. 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.