Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 1.2%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $277.67 and last traded at $275.26. 1,007,244 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,534,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

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 fifty day simple moving average of $294.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.17. The firm has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,707,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 629,993 shares of company stock valued at $184,255,474. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.