Salesforce’s (CRM) Overweight Rating Reaffirmed at Piper Sandler

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Piper Sandler in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $405.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.38% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Macquarie began coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $351.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $335.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.44. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 5,735 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.22, for a total value of $1,526,771.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,663 shares in the company, valued at $442,723.86. The trade was a 77.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,298 shares of company stock valued at $39,903,781 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.