Loop Capital Issues Positive Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Loop Capital from $270.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Loop Capital’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.78% from the company’s previous close.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.23.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $7.66 on Thursday, reaching $334.06. 4,002,965 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,299,815. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $283.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.84. The company has a market cap of $319.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $910,220,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.