Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Raised to Strong-Buy at Stephens

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.74.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $279.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $268.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $315.19 and its 200-day moving average is $309.50.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 15,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.55, for a total value of $5,228,464.15. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,898,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,087,239.95. This trade represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,609 shares of company stock valued at $24,920,821. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $347,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,237,000. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $1,808,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 99,770 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,356,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $118,113,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.