JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $310.00 to $340.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the CRM provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.39% from the company's current price.

CRM has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $326.19.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $325.70. 3,761,243 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,295,385. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $311.37 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $289.68 and a 200-day moving average of $267.31. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its position in Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Salesforce in 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.