Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $288.14 and last traded at $288.40. 1,064,710 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,499,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $291.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $259.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.94. The company has a market capitalization of $279.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.87, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,412 shares of company stock worth $20,071,723 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,922,223,000 after buying an additional 736,986 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during 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 period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after buying an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. 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.