Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $377.63.

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its position in Salesforce by 8.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $63,978,000 after acquiring an additional 17,350 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $340,000. Embree Financial Group boosted its position in Salesforce by 6.5% in the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 4,478 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,265 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.49 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $336.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.11. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors 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 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.