Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $450.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price lifted by JMP Securities from $342.00 to $450.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.66.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $339.12 on Friday. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $296.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.98. The firm has a market cap of $324.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.