Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $350.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $325.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 18.92% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.77.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $294.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $190.45 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $298.82 and its 200-day moving average is $259.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.08, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,958,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,880,100,241.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.