Mizuho Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $380.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective decreased by Mizuho from $425.00 to $380.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CRM. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $352.62.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $291.00 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $268.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.10. The firm has a market cap of $279.76 billion, a PE ratio of 47.86, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Millham sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $1,120,391.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,312.44. The trade was a 41.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,527 shares of company stock valued at $14,882,976. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,173,564,000. 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.