Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Northland Securities

Northland Securities reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Northland Securities currently has a $440.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $400.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CRM. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $361.99 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $346.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.31%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.