Salesforce's (CRM) Market Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market outperform" rating restated by research analysts at JMP Securities in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $342.00 price target on the CRM provider's stock. JMP Securities' target price suggests a potential upside of 25.39% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRM. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $306.26.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $21.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $272.75. The stock had a trading volume of 18,360,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,935. Salesforce has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $298.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $260.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.94, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total transaction of $4,046,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,442,851.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total transaction of $4,046,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,442,851.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 922,375 shares of company stock worth $266,955,446 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its position in Salesforce by 8.7% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 18.8% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Salesforce by 42.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 21.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 shares during the period. 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.