Wedbush Increases Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $375.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Wedbush from $325.00 to $375.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential upside of 9.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CRM. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $337.80.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $342.02 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $294.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. 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.