Scotiabank Has Lowered Expectations for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Scotiabank from $440.00 to $400.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 31.47% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.16.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $3.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $304.25. 10,494,964 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,560,190. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $330.86 and a 200-day moving average of $306.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors 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.