Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $275.00 to $330.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $284.99 and a 200 day moving average of $266.30. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $310.96 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $910,220,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.