Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $345.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 24.36% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.7 %

CRM stock opened at $277.41 on Monday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $269.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $298.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,539,948.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $893,934.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $18,687,877.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,539,948.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.