Salesforce's (CRM) "Sector Perform" Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $275.00 price objective on the CRM provider's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.99% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on shares of Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $259.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,529,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,259,348. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $248.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $272.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.49.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,534 shares of company stock valued at $10,028,795. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 5,342 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.