Salesforce’s (CRM) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reissued their overweight rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $405.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CRM. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $343.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $328.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $323.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.01.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,189,056 shares of company stock worth $405,093,170 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.