Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Oppenheimer

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by investment analysts at Oppenheimer in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $385.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $330.00. Oppenheimer’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CRM. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $342.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $294.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Salesforce by 376.1% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,472 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.