Stephens Begins Coverage on Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $311.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.48% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CRM. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Salesforce from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie cut their target price on Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.74.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $278.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $316.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.71. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $268.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.88, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 15,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.55, for a total value of $5,228,464.15. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,898,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,087,239.95. This trade represents a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,609 shares of company stock valued at $24,920,821. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.