Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Lowered to $275.00 at DA Davidson

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective trimmed by DA Davidson from $300.00 to $275.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Salesforce from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $294.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $282.12 billion, a PE ratio of 48.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $330.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $306.89. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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). The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This trade represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.