Piper Sandler Downgrades Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) to Hold

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was downgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on CRM. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $288.10 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $261.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $275.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,283,087 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 33,600 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,197,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. 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.