Loop Capital Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $300.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective cut by Loop Capital from $330.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

CRM stock opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $329.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $320,072.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 14.2% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 31,664 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,332,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 512 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 39,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $10,878,000 after purchasing an additional 12,294 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in Salesforce by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 9,491 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,453 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.