Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives $310.74 Average Target Price from Analysts

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-five have assigned a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $311.66.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5 %

Salesforce stock opened at $291.33 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.18. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.30 billion, a PE ratio of 52.40, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.63, for a total transaction of $245,767.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.63, for a total transaction of $245,767.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 76,110 shares of company stock worth $20,292,760. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. XN LP grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% during the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,284,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,178,000. First Foundation Advisors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 5,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 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.