Guggenheim Reiterates “Sell” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “sell” rating restated by research analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $247.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 17.01% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CRM. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $329.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.