Robert W. Baird Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $400.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective decreased by Robert W. Baird from $430.00 to $400.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $329.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. The trade was a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during 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.