Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price lifted by Scotiabank from $425.00 to $440.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $361.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $346.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $308.26 and its 200-day moving average is $272.43. 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 has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,832,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,302,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $44,708,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% in the second quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 65,170 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $16,755,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 78,746 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $20,246,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is 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.