Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 2%
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report)’s stock price was up 2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $300.10 and last traded at $299.96. Approximately 1,158,602 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 5,631,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $294.14.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.97.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Salesforce
Salesforce Stock Up 2.6 %
The firm has a market cap of $292.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 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 of $297.40 and a 200-day moving average of $255.87.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.59, for a total transaction of $3,878,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,866,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,585,651,865.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.59, for a total transaction of $3,878,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,866,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,585,651,865.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 913,175 shares of company stock worth $262,199,146. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Salesforce
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
About Salesforce
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.
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