Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 0.2% Higher

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded up 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $256.56 and last traded at $255.01. 1,174,797 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,623,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $248.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.40. The stock has a market cap of $247.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.09, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.20, for a total transaction of $4,293,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,527,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,585,320,987.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 197,936 shares of company stock worth $51,158,915 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. 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.