Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $350.00 to $400.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on CRM. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Northland Securities raised shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $329.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $314.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $283.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.1% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 3,351 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 807,993 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $243,351,000 after purchasing an additional 18,468 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 136.3% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 1,050,700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $316,450,000 after buying an additional 54,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 14.3% in the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.