Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rating Upgraded by TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has $400.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $380.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Apeiron RIA LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,000. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 7,351 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,680 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 6,021 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madrona Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 995 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 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.