Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Now Covered by Scotiabank

Equities research analysts at Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 31.89% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CRM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.36.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $3.01 on Monday, reaching $322.25. 4,250,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,310,329. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $286.61 and a 200-day moving average of $266.61. The firm has a market cap of $308.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This trade represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.