Piper Sandler Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Piper Sandler restated their neutral rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $276.33 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $268.04 billion, a PE ratio of 65.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $298.10 and a 200 day moving average of $260.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 907,149 shares of company stock valued at $262,952,448 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its stake in Salesforce by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Salesforce by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.