Guggenheim Reaffirms “Sell” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Guggenheim restated their sell rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a $247.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Trading Down 4.1 %

Salesforce stock opened at $294.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $282.12 billion, a PE ratio of 48.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.89. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.