Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $310.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $345.00 to $310.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $329.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.58. The stock has a market cap 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 has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % 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, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Institutional investors 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.