Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Citigroup from $290.00 to $368.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.51% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $341.89.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $330.01 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $300.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $270.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $315.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.39, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total transaction of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,622.79. This trade represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $859,000. Burney Co. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Burney Co. now owns 29,823 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,982,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Salesforce by 71.3% during the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 42,373 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,762,000 after purchasing an additional 17,639 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,952,168 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $587,954,000 after purchasing an additional 26,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Salesforce by 476.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 297,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $89,587,000 after purchasing an additional 245,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.