Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Lowered to $250.00 at DA Davidson

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective cut by DA Davidson from $275.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.76.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $254.04 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $287.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.55. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.10%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director Oscar Munoz purchased 3,882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,967.04. This trade represents a 48.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,660 shares of company stock valued at $14,095,336 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.