Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.2%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 0.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $278.94 and last traded at $277.33. 918,412 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,657,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $296.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.44.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is 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.