JMP Securities Reiterates "Market Outperform" Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a $430.00 price objective on the CRM provider's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $258.23. 7,004,264 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,540,561. The firm has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $272.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.84. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the second quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,137 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,491,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 13.2% during the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 136,195 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $37,139,000 after purchasing an additional 15,839 shares during the period. Wealth Management Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 7,682 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.7% during the second quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,367 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 10.3% during the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 8,957 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,442,000 after buying an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by 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.