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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $377.63.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average of $303.11. The company has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.