Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 0% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded up 0% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $375.00 to $400.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $328.80 and last traded at $325.01. 985,090 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 4,031,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $324.93.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $334.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

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.