Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Should You Buy?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was up 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $270.22 and last traded at $269.62. Approximately 1,910,443 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 6,484,099 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.2%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $268.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.34, for a total value of $514,686.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,190 shares in the company, valued at $8,416,644.60. This trade represents a 5.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,992 shares of company stock worth $6,704,198. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,082 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.