Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Receives "Market Outperform" Rating from JMP Securities

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market outperform" rating restated by stock analysts at JMP Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $430.00 price objective on the CRM provider's stock. JMP Securities' target price suggests a potential upside of 62.91% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of CRM opened at $263.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $252.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.84.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $332,922.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,196,573.30. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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