Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Northland Securities

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Northland Securities in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $440.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $400.00. Northland Securities’ target price suggests a potential upside of 32.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CRM. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.60.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $304.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $317.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.