Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $450.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price upped by JMP Securities from $342.00 to $450.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $342.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.53.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 7,332 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 17,003 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,654,000 after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 5.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 193,314 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $52,912,000 after buying an additional 10,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.