DA Davidson Issues Positive Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target upped by DA Davidson from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Wedbush raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $345.31.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $331.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $317.17 billion, a PE ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $304.68 and a 200-day moving average of $271.14. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.