Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $350.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.29% from the stock’s current price.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.94.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded down $5.74 on Friday, reaching $272.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,692,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,293,972. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $264.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $287.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.71.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.41, for a total transaction of $1,746,372.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 636,344 shares of company stock worth $184,877,874. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th 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. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $910,220,000. 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.