Salesforce’s (CRM) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $330.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $300.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $5.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $292.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,037,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,323,548. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $283.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $268.70 and its 200-day moving average is $263.24.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,812 shares of company stock worth $23,418,916 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 186.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 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.