Jefferies Financial Group Increases Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $360.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $350.00 to $360.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a sector weight rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Nine research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $273.83 on Monday. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.79. The firm has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.20, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $110,040.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $110,040.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.