Oppenheimer Increases Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $300.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target boosted by Oppenheimer from $280.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $302.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $252.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.06 billion, a PE ratio of 45.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.44.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at $13,072,660.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.99, for a total transaction of $660,772.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 115,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,318,674.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,964 shares of company stock worth $27,956,647 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Souders Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 435.0% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 4,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 9.3% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,428,934 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $881,579,000 after purchasing an additional 292,912 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $336,000. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.