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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares 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 trading hands.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on CRM. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 596,595 shares of company stock worth $175,648,172 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.19, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 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.