Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $310.61.

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $273.83 on Tuesday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $297.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

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.