Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Cut to “Sell” at Guggenheim

Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $247.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.39.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9 %

CRM stock opened at $329.82 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $333.53 and a 200 day moving average of $287.43. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $315.64 billion, a PE ratio of 54.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.