Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.2%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $278.94 and last traded at $277.33. 918,412 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,657,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. 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 MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.37. The stock has a market cap of $267.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.76, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 company also recently disclosed 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 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 (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, 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 this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total transaction of $4,211,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,671,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,838,726,701.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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.