Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 0.9%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) were up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $279.94 and last traded at $279.66. Approximately 903,366 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 5,473,361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $277.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $270.04 billion, a PE ratio of 66.59, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.99.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,487,837,972.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.93, for a total transaction of $1,137,906.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 115,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,363,398.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total value of $4,131,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 619,993 shares of company stock valued at $181,048,574 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Salesforce by 110.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $893,336,000 after buying an additional 1,780,421 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.