Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) were up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $331.75 and last traded at $330.20. Approximately 1,941,486 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 6,266,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $312.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $301.96.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,705,195. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Nvest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.