Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Upgraded at Arete Research

Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CRM. Mizuho set a $340.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Northland Securities upped their price target on Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.46.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $262.34 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $245.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.08. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $221.96 and a 12 month high of $367.09. The company has a market capitalization of $245.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 177,534 shares of company stock valued at $42,194,197. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.1% in the third quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 560,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,698,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 22,914 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 275,577 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $65,312,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,784,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.