Salesforce's (CRM) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Salesforce's stock rating has been restated as a buy by Needham & Company, with a target price of $400.00, indicating potential upside of 55.72% from its previous closing price.
• The company's recent earnings report exceeded expectations, with an EPS of $2.91 and revenue of $10.24 billion, reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.8%.
• Institutional investors hold a substantial 80.43% of Salesforce's stock, with several firms recently increasing their positions in the company.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $400.00 target price on the CRM provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price indicates a potential upside of 59.74% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CRM. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $331.34.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.6%

CRM stock traded up $6.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $250.40. 13,010,920 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,763,446. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $255.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.08. The stock has a market cap of $239.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total value of $543,375.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,876,644,396.50. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 66,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,885,773 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Salesforce by 8.0% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 32,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,825,000 after buying an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Notis McConarty Edward boosted its stake in Salesforce by 71.6% during the first quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,036,482 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $274,802,000 after buying an additional 15,782 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 43.0% during the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 104,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,133,000 after buying an additional 31,537 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt boosted its stake in Salesforce by 121.9% during the first quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 355,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $95,222,000 after buying an additional 195,000 shares during the period. 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.