Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) were up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $272.99 and last traded at $272.19. Approximately 959,974 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 5,644,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at $271.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.97. The company has a market capitalization of $262.45 billion, a PE ratio of 64.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.