Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Lowered to $380.00 at Oppenheimer

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target cut by Oppenheimer from $415.00 to $380.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CRM. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.58. The company has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.