Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 2.2% Higher – What’s Next?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded up 2.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $329.57 and last traded at $326.90. 1,881,796 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 4,813,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $337.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.02 billion, a PE ratio of 53.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 business 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 25.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently 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.