Salesforce’s (CRM) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $300.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. Loop Capital restated a hold rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America restated a buy rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $306.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $266.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.99, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 1,678 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $406,612.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,662 shares in the company, valued at $402,735.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock worth $16,957,573. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 186.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during 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.