Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 0.6% - Should You Buy?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) traded up 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $343.53 and last traded at $339.12. 1,947,464 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 6,394,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $378.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $322.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.78, for a total value of $249,422.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,380,136.92. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,298 shares of company stock valued at $39,903,781 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.