Brokerages Set Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Price Target at $345.31

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have issued a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $372.86.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $348.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $311.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,020.24. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on 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 owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 138,498 shares of company stock worth $40,983,349. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 28,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,260 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 142,876 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $36,721,000 after buying an additional 5,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 10.8% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 106,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $27,422,000 after buying an additional 10,365 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.