BMO Capital Markets Lowers Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $367.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from $375.00 to $367.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $405.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $329.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.58.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.