Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Lowered to $367.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target cut by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $375.00 to $367.00 in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.47% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $374.26.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $330.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last ninety 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 made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.