Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $278.67 and last traded at $278.32. 870,501 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,496,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. 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 report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Nine equities research 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $268.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $293.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 have sold 634,993 shares of company stock worth $185,373,074 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after purchasing an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.