Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) rose 0.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $277.06 and last traded at $274.84. Approximately 2,353,522 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 5,652,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.52 and a 200 day moving average of $260.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.40, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total value of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,770,697,095.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,770,697,095.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently 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.