Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Upgraded by Erste Group Bank to Buy Rating

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRM. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.36.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $323.29 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $289.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $309.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.22, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 4,056 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.50, for a total value of $1,060,644.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,472 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.