Brokerages Set Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Price Target at $313.37

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $322.51.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $310.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.