Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.6%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $279.64 and last traded at $276.86. 782,361 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 5,440,883 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $292.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.12. The company has a market cap of $267.85 billion, a PE ratio of 65.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total value of $2,889,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,455,994.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.93, for a total transaction of $2,889,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,455,994.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 624,193 shares of company stock worth $182,005,898 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.8% in the first quarter. Alera Investment Advisors LLC now owns 870 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $345,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 80.9% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 49,513 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $14,912,000 after acquiring an additional 22,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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.

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