Salesforce’s (CRM) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $400.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 30.21% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The company 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. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $330.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,034 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 31,664 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,332,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 512 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 39,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,878,000 after acquiring an additional 12,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its stake in Salesforce by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 9,491 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,453 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.