Oppenheimer Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Oppenheimer in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $385.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $330.00. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.72.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $6.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $332.43. 967,846 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,271,823. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.72. The firm has a market cap of $317.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.48, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 136,117 shares of company stock worth $39,085,562 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 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.