Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $345.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 29.76% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CRM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.00.

Salesforce Stock Up 5.3 %

CRM opened at $265.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.90 and its 200 day moving average is $267.00. The stock has a market cap of $257.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,223,020.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,223,020.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $977,122.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock valued at $16,957,573 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after purchasing an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XN LP raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% during the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.