TD Cowen Upgrades Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) to Buy

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was upgraded by TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $400.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $380.00. TD Cowen’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 23.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $337.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.56.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. This represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total value of $1,785,149.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,767.75. The trade was a 86.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.