Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, thirty have given a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $377.63.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 23,264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,981,000 after buying an additional 4,635 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 403.4% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 736,459 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,344,000 after buying an additional 102,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unisphere Establishment raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.9% in the second quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 559,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $143,719,000 after acquiring an additional 68,250 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $354.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $337.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.