Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $400.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

CRM opened at $329.46 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $283.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $314.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.