Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $340.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $310.00 to $340.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CRM. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $342.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $294.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.66. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The stock has a market cap of $327.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,622.79. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,387,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares during the period. Finally, XN LP increased its holdings in Salesforce by 24.2% during the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.