Northland Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target dropped by Northland Securities from $423.00 to $396.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Northland Securities’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 49.42% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CRM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $255.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $265.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $216.06 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $267.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $1,872,521.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,071,750. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after buying an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.