Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was up 0.1% on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $350.00 to $360.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $279.70 and last traded at $270.59. Approximately 2,376,459 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 5,651,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.37.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 616,589 shares of company stock worth $181,071,306. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.86, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

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.