Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director Robin L. Washington Buys 1,695 Shares of Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director Robin L. Washington acquired 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $294.61 per share, for a total transaction of $499,363.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at $12,799,331.45. The trade was a 4.06 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $292.60 on Tuesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $328.10 and a 200 day moving average of $308.16. The company has a market capitalization of $280.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

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.