Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.6% – What’s Next?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares traded down 0.6% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $341.03 and last traded at $342.40. 506,766 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 6,405,269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.86.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $326.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $281.49. 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 has a market cap of $327.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.25, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total transaction of $1,141,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,206,179.50. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,190,638 shares of company stock valued at $406,724,860 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.