Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $385.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target upped by BMO Capital Markets from $305.00 to $385.00 in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued 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 $325.36.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $322.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.96. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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 previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently 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.