Salesforce’s (CRM) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Guggenheim

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Guggenheim in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CRM. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $361.46.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.14. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd 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. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.