Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $320.00 to $295.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Northland Securities lowered their target price on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.32.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of CRM opened at $265.03 on Friday. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $216.06 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after acquiring an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

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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.