Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $400.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 34.39% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $329.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $307.21. The firm has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.