Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $316.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $288.00 to $316.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CRM. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $291.50.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $265.33 on Friday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $257.10 billion, a PE ratio of 47.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $249.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total transaction of $4,275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,482,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,463,195. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.00, for a total transaction of $4,275,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,482,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,557,463,195. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,936 shares of company stock worth $42,433,769 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after buying an additional 407,834 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.