Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given Outperform Rating at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $385.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $330.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day moving average of $268.53.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 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.