Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $345.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on CRM. BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Macquarie decreased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $304.41.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $244.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $236.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $254.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.74, for a total transaction of $3,626,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $2,940,152,355.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.74, for a total value of $3,626,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $2,940,152,355.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,622.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,692 shares of company stock valued at $21,006,957 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 76.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth about $910,220,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $874,748,000. Hedge funds and other 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.