Analysts Set Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Price Target at $349.87

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the forty-three research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, thirty have given a buy recommendation and five have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $342.90.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson restated an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $8.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $267.36. 28,033,232 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,033,617. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $268.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.79. The company has a market cap of $257.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 26.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robin L. Washington purchased 1,695 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $294.61 per share, for a total transaction of $499,363.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,799,331.45. This trade represents a 4.06% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.