Citigroup Lowers Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $350.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $390.00 to $350.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 13.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $374.47.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.60. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $295.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. 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. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $362,000. United Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Challenger Wealth Management purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $284,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 16,187 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,412,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $1,394,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.