Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Receives “Market Outperform” Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $342.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on CRM. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush increased 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. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $271.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $263.69 billion, a PE ratio of 64.73, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.70 and a 200-day moving average of $260.97.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,857,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $11,074,012. 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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.