Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.1% - Here's What Happened

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $289.70 and last traded at $287.68. 1,552,535 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,749,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $287.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $326.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $308.33. The firm has a market cap of $278.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robin L. Washington purchased 1,695 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,799,331.45. The trade was a 4.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock valued at $383,156,227. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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