Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $345.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE CRM opened at $276.33 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $298.10 and its 200 day moving average is $260.89. 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 has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $268.04 billion, a PE ratio of 65.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS 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 company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors 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 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 907,149 shares of company stock worth $262,952,448 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after buying an additional 10,252,257 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after buying an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $401,215,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.