Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target cut by Bank of America from $440.00 to $400.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $294.80 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 stock has a market capitalization of $282.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.89.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,886,746.74. The trade was a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd 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. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.