Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $345.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wolfe Research raised Salesforce from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $345.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $306.26.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $272.75 on Monday. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $298.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $260.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,539,948.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.11, for a total transaction of $2,841,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,323,891.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,539,948.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Graypoint LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.