Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Guggenheim

Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $247.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given 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 a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

CRM opened at $326.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $334.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.26. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.