Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $425.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $400.00 to $425.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on CRM. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $367.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $351.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $306.55 and its 200-day moving average is $271.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,020.24. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This trade represents a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,672,000. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. 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.