Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Now Covered by Analysts at Stephens

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $311.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.74.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $279.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.54 billion, a PE ratio of 45.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $309.50. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 75,609 shares of company stock valued at $24,920,821. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $347,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,237,000. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $1,808,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 99,770 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,356,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.