Salesforce’s (CRM) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $350.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $325.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on CRM. Argus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a sector weight rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $306.26.

Salesforce Stock Down 7.3 %

Salesforce stock opened at $272.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $298.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.26. The firm has a market cap of $264.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.11, for a total transaction of $2,841,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,323,891.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.11, for a total value of $2,841,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,323,891.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total value of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,770,697,095.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Salesforce by 42.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after buying an additional 151,440 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.