Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1.7%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 1.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $280.56 and last traded at $277.41. 7,624,347 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 63% from the average session volume of 4,686,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $263.69 billion, a PE ratio of 64.73, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.55, for a total transaction of $4,238,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,731,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,740,953.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.