BMO Capital Markets Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $375.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $425.00 to $375.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. 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 market cap of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $333.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.