Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shot up 2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $273.97 and last traded at $274.57. 1,833,258 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 6,525,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $269.21.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Northland Securities cut their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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, May 29th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Salesforce
Salesforce Stock Performance
The company's 50-day simple moving average is $272.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.
Insider Activity
In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,232,282,283.36. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at $3,097,442.26. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Collective Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,048 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank grew its holdings in Salesforce by 10.3% during the second quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 10,862 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,962,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,980,000. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% during the second quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 47,175 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $12,864,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.
About Salesforce
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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