Brokerages Set Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) PT at $377.63

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, thirty have assigned a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $377.63.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.9% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 23,264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,981,000 after buying an additional 4,635 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 403.4% during the 2nd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 736,459 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,344,000 after acquiring an additional 102,358 shares during the period. Finally, Unisphere Establishment boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.9% in the second quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 559,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $143,719,000 after acquiring an additional 68,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $354.14 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $337.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.02. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.