Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares rose 3.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $308.56 and last traded at $306.76. Approximately 1,649,603 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 6,238,636 shares. The stock had previously closed at $297.49.
CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $313.37.
View Our Latest Research Report on CRM
The company has a market capitalization of $293.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $275.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 27.83%.
In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,702.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,973 shares of company stock valued at $42,672,142. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.
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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