Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $385.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $305.00 to $385.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.36.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $322.25 on Friday. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $308.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $288.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.96.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors 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 yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was 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 represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.