Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JMP Securities Analyst Says

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target hoisted by JMP Securities from $342.00 to $450.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.66.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $339.12 on Friday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.98. The firm has a market cap of $324.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,622.79. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,510 shares of company stock valued at $42,475,538 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.