Salesforce’s (CRM) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $400.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given 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 a consensus target price of $343.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $265.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $267.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $304.75. 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 has a one year low of $216.06 and a one year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 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 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,525. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total transaction of $1,872,521.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,071,750. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,553 shares of company stock worth $12,897,323 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Athena Investment Management purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $236,000. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $4,321,000. Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 2,507.9% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,926,000 after purchasing an additional 22,797 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $2,861,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,146,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.