Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $348.16.

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens reduced their price target on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $386,831.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,097,442.26. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,569 shares of company stock worth $8,533,528 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $257.84 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $230.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $271.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.52. The company has a market capitalization of $246.49 billion, a PE ratio of 40.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

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.