Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lowered by Robert W. Baird from $430.00 to $400.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $329.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.58. The stock has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.