Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Lowered to $325.00 at Bank of America

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target cut by Bank of America from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $340.54.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $244.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $257.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $270.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.57, for a total value of $557,032.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,948,947,632.47. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,077 shares of company stock valued at $14,642,478. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,823,481 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,221,275,000 after buying an additional 909,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,452,998,000 after purchasing an additional 776,300 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,669,224,000 after purchasing an additional 114,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $2,826,049,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 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.