Salesforce’s (CRM) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, November 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.54.

Salesforce Trading Up 5.4%

Salesforce stock opened at $260.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $243.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.64. The company has a market capitalization of $248.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $221.96 and a 52 week high of $367.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 184,284 shares of company stock valued at $43,862,999. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,814,000 after buying an additional 3,387 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $56,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,176 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in Salesforce by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 148,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $40,427,000 after acquiring an additional 12,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.