Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $325.00 to $390.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.23.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $341.02 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $326.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 89.4% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 1,710 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Elite Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 19,368 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,301,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 169,323 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $46,345,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 461,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $126,237,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIG Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $18,284,000. 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.