Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Cut to $380.00 by Analysts at Oppenheimer

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lowered by Oppenheimer from $415.00 to $380.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CRM. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Down 4.1 %

CRM opened at $294.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $330.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $306.89.

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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders 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 was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. 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.