Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $350.00 to $360.00. The stock had previously closed at $270.37, but opened at $279.39. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Salesforce shares last traded at $270.83, with a volume of 2,285,469 shares traded.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Argus lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $296.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

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.