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

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $425.00 to $375.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 25.99% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $329.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.21. 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 has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by 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.