Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 0.8% Higher

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares were up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $272.10 and last traded at $270.76. Approximately 972,922 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,552,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $268.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $263.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 614,993 shares of company stock valued at $180,212,524. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in 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 lifted 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 valued at $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 110.3% in 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 valued at $893,336,000 after buying an additional 1,780,421 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.