Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $329.52 and last traded at $326.62. 1,590,078 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 4,904,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $324.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $320.36 billion, a PE ratio of 55.06, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $336.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $429,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $134,000. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. GFS Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $392,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 37,346 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,501,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.