Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price was up 0.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $336.60 and last traded at $334.62. Approximately 1,515,588 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 3,419,230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5 %

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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $334.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.99. The company has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was 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 owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.