Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.7%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $253.04 and last traded at $255.15. 1,852,854 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 6,583,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $257.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.00.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $244.30 billion, a PE ratio of 45.44, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $253.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.90, for a total transaction of $1,104,180.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,912,044.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total value of $771,495.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $977,122.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.90, for a total transaction of $1,104,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,912,044.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,964 shares of company stock worth $27,956,647 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,576 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after buying an additional 3,595 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,242 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,239,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.