Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Rating Lowered to Sell at Guggenheim

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was downgraded by investment analysts at Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $247.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target suggests a potential downside of 23.96% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CRM. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.39.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $324.84 on Monday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $334.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.99. The firm has a market cap of $310.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 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.