Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the forty-two analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, thirty-one have issued a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $375.53.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE CRM opened at $309.54 on Monday. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $333.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,114 shares of company stock worth $381,142,656 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.