JMP Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at JMP Securities from $342.00 to $450.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. JMP Securities’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 33.85% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CRM. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.11.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $336.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $292.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.20. The company has a market capitalization of $321.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,183 shares of company stock valued at $38,314,066 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the 2nd 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 position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.