Wolfe Research Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Wolfe Research in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $365.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 33.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CRM. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $272.75 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $298.52 and a 200-day moving average of $260.26. The company has a market capitalization of $264.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.94, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total value of $4,110,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,697,095.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,360,428,000 after buying an additional 10,252,257 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after buying an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $401,215,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently 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.