Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-five have given a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $311.66.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Salesforce stock opened at $292.94 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $266.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $283.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,155 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $295,425.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,257,813.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $295,425.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,257,813.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,429,961 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 376.1% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,472 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.