Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.4%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) rose 0.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $256.33 and last traded at $255.09. Approximately 583,654 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 6,878,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $244.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.45, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.75, for a total transaction of $1,061,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at $29,494,155.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 424,152 shares of company stock worth $113,945,011 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 186.7% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.