Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $367.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $375.00 to $367.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CRM. Scotiabank upped 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. DA Davidson increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $294.80 on Thursday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $282.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.49, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $330.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.89. 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 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.