Salesforce’s (CRM) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reissued their neutral rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $300.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CRM. Mizuho reiterated a buy rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Salesforce from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $271.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $263.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $297.70 and its 200 day moving average is $260.97.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total transaction of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total transaction of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,559,293,833.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock valued at $184,794,698. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.