Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rating Upgraded by KeyCorp

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was upgraded by analysts at KeyCorp from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $440.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.19% from the stock’s previous close.

CRM has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.24.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $354.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $317.48 and its 200 day moving average is $275.61. The company has a market cap of $339.07 billion, a PE ratio of 58.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,020.24. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,498 shares of company stock valued at $40,983,349 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 215 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.3% during the second quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,274 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. Marietta Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.2% in the second quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,195 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,963,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.1% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,481,638 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $638,029,000 after purchasing an additional 73,450 shares during the period. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 50.8% during the 2nd quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,027 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 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.