Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $340.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $310.00 to $340.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $342.12 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $327.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,622.79. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.