BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target lowered by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $375.00 to $367.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 23.31% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CRM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $405.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $329.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.