Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $368.00 at Citigroup

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $290.00 to $368.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CRM. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.89.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $330.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $315.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $299.57 and a 200-day moving average of $269.87.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total transaction of $884,081.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,622.79. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its stake in Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.