Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $295.00. The stock had previously closed at $276.03, but opened at $263.59. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce shares last traded at $258.62, with a volume of 5,359,775 shares trading hands.
Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.32.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce
Insider Buying and Selling
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Salesforce Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.59, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $267.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $304.75.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.
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.
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