BMO Capital Markets Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $375.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price dropped by BMO Capital Markets from $425.00 to $375.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price indicates a potential upside of 20.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $7.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $310.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,202,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,116,491. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $334.23 and its 200-day moving average is $304.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $297.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. 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 company posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total value of $2,041,607.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,342,415. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 21.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 807 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.0% in the third quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 15,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,152,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1,566.7% in the third quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 25,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after buying an additional 23,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 62.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,619 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.