Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) PT Raised to $360.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $350.00 to $360.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho restated 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. Stifel Nicolaus restated a buy rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a buy rating and issued a $360.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $273.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.02, a P/E/G 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 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.44.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 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.