Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives $292.79 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $292.79.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 439,152 shares of company stock valued at $118,115,911 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Salesforce by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after buying an additional 194,224 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $253.97 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.68, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

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.