Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $400.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from $440.00 to $400.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $294.80 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $282.12 billion, a PE ratio of 48.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $330.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.89.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $1,449,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 17,904 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,986,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,894,000. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $313,000. Hedge funds and other 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.