Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 1.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price shot up 1.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $260.00 and last traded at $258.54. 1,757,481 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,804,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.42.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.4 %

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 $246.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $289.29 and its 200 day moving average is $310.70.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Oscar Munoz acquired 3,882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $257.28 per share, with a total value of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,967.04. The trade was a 48.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $216,646.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,467 shares in the company, valued at $40,361,054.76. The trade was a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 10.2% during the first quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 747 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,274 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.3% in the first quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,535 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,754,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the first quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.