Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, TD Cowen Analyst Says

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price increased by TD Cowen from $290.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $342.12 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $348.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $294.61 and a 200 day moving average of $268.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by 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.