Salesforce’s (CRM) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $375.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CRM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $316.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.54.

Salesforce Stock Up 5.4%

CRM stock opened at $260.78 on Thursday. Salesforce has a one year low of $221.96 and a one year high of $367.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $243.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.12, for a total transaction of $565,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,233,709.52. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 184,284 shares of company stock worth $43,862,999 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,826,049,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $2,039,196,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $484,852,000. 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.