BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $305.00 to $385.00 in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CRM. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $325.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $310.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $286.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.61. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86.

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, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $33,000. 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.