Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $425.00 to $375.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $292.67 and last traded at $303.08. 7,218,852 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 6,463,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at $307.33.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $369.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $290.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.