Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 1.5% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $275.00 to $330.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $347.38 and last traded at $346.40. 1,272,164 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,284,661 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.15.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CRM. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.37.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total transaction of $1,104,474.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank grew 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 in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 11.6% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $281.40 and a 200 day moving average of $265.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

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.