Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $229.00. The company traded as high as $214.55 and last traded at $213.30, with a volume of 1129602 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $209.91.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $171.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $218.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-five 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.74, for a total value of $259,675.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,838,191.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.07, for a total transaction of $118,225.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 27,753,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,525,781,019.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.74, for a total transaction of $259,675.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,838,191.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,356 shares of company stock valued at $8,542,009 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 89,767 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $11,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 4,248 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. ETF Managers Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 3,227 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $127,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 518,617 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $87,112,000 after purchasing an additional 40,090 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.83% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $197.72 and its 200-day moving average is $169.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,025.95, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.99 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 4.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Salesforce

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Salesforce, Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform.