Wedbush Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective upped by Wedbush from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRM. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $341.89.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $330.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $315.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.39, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $300.85 and a 200 day moving average of $270.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was 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 available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock valued at $42,475,538. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $3,672,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.