Macquarie Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Macquarie restated their neutral rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Macquarie currently has a $370.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.86.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $337.23 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.73 billion, a PE ratio of 55.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.78, for a total transaction of $249,422.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,380,136.92. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,298 shares of company stock worth $39,903,781. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.