Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Earns Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $315.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $300.00.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Roth Mkm reiterated a buy rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $306.00.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $266.80 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.18. The company has a market cap of $258.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business 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 for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,223,020.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 2,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $524,680.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,891 shares of company stock worth $16,306,944 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management boosted its stake in Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after acquiring an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Salesforce by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $207,756,000 after acquiring an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XN LP lifted its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.