Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 0.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $275.00 to $330.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $348.86 and last traded at $344.91. 2,479,612 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 6,283,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.73.

CRM has been the topic of several other research reports. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Souders Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. TBH Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 25.7% in the first quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 10.0% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,071,000 after purchasing an additional 8,472 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 17.7% during the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 13,413 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,040,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 41.3% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $326.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $279.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.83.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.