Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Raised to $255.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $243.00 to $255.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.78% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.32.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE CRM opened at $265.03 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.75. The stock has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $216.06 and a 12-month high of $369.00. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total transaction of $1,872,521.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,071,750. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OMC Financial Services LTD grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is 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.