Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Rating Reiterated by Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wolfe Research currently has a $365.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CRM. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $277.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $298.35 and a 200 day moving average of $260.79. The firm has a market cap of $269.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.05, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.11, for a total value of $2,841,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,323,891.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.11, for a total transaction of $2,841,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,323,891.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,499 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,776,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Consulting Group purchased a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $205,000. KRS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Finally, Norway Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.5% during the first quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 8,344 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,513,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.