Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Rating Lowered to Sell at Guggenheim

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was downgraded by analysts at Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $247.00 price objective on the CRM provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target points to a potential downside of 25.80% from the stock’s current price.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.39.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $332.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $332.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.81. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $318.59 billion, a PE ratio of 54.75, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,186,017 shares of company stock valued at $405,971,793. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 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.