Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Raised to Buy at Erste Group Bank

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce to “buy” from “hold.” MarketBeat’s analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $249.51.
• Salesforce reported quarterly EPS of $3.88, beating estimates of $3.13, while revenue rose 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion.
• Shares traded at $192.77, with a market capitalization of approximately $157.9 billion; institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the stock.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Erste Group Bank from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Susquehanna started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.51.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $1.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $192.77. 2,838,672 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,742,835. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The company has a market capitalization of $157.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $170.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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