Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $300.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $310.00 to $300.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an outperform rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $310.94.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

CRM stock opened at $278.54 on Thursday. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.63 billion, a PE ratio of 66.32, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 6,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.41, for a total value of $1,746,372.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 636,344 shares of company stock valued at $184,877,874 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $910,220,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.