Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $342.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $360.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

Salesforce stock opened at $276.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.04 billion, a PE ratio of 65.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $298.10 and its 200-day moving average is $260.89. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $82,310,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 907,149 shares of company stock valued at $262,952,448 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,626,413 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $22,005,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,821 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 0.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,091,832,000 after acquiring an additional 391,648 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Salesforce by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,519,719,000 after acquiring an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the period. 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.