Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.2%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price shot up 0.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $256.56 and last traded at $255.01. 1,174,797 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,623,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $288.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.50.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $254.76 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $249.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total value of $4,303,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,512,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,136 shares of company stock valued at $47,935,109. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% during the first quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 38 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.