Wedbush Increases Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $325.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target increased by Wedbush from $315.00 to $325.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised Salesforce from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the company from $268.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Phillip Securities reissued an accumulate rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $308.03.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

CRM opened at $273.68 on Friday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $265.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.75, for a total value of $1,061,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at $29,494,155.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.75, for a total transaction of $1,061,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,494,155.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,985 shares of company stock valued at $17,632,363. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fox Hill Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,490,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% during the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,876 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSC Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.1% in the second quarter. DSC Advisors L.P. now owns 1,302 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.