Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lifted by Robert W. Baird from $340.00 to $430.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.50.

Salesforce Trading Up 11.0 %

Shares of CRM opened at $367.94 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.99, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.