Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-seven have issued a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $348.16.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at $3,097,442.26. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,569 shares of company stock worth $8,533,528. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% during the first quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. KDT Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% during the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $257.84 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $246.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $271.11 and a 200-day moving average of $287.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

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.