Salesforce’s (CRM) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Macquarie

Macquarie restated their neutral rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Macquarie currently has a $320.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.74.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $281.56 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $270.58 billion, a PE ratio of 46.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $313.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $309.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 16,487 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.68, for a total transaction of $5,616,791.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $566,210.16. The trade was a 90.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,256 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,357 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 238,067 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $65,161,000 after purchasing an additional 16,724 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $283,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,083 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,665 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 18,830 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,154,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.