Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 15.14% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.55.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of CRM traded up $8.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $260.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 668,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,491,810. The firm has a market cap of $252.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $253.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.01.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Oscar Munoz acquired 2,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $243.69 per share, for a total transaction of $499,808.19. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,165.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock worth $16,957,573 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $874,748,000. Finally, Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $564,188,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.