Canaccord Genuity Group Has Lowered Expectations for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target dropped by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $415.00 to $400.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 34.39% from the company’s previous close.

CRM has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of 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 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $329.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.21. The stock has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. 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.