Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Cut to $400.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $405.00 to $400.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 34.39% from the company’s current price.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $329.11 and its 200 day moving average is $307.21. The stock has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $733,805,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.