CRM

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Sees Large Volume Increase on Analyst Upgrade

June 1, 2024

37 4 minutes read

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Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $231.00 to $234.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Approximately 4,829,499 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 6,025,192 shares.The stock last traded at $217.50 and had previously closed at $218.01.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.64, for a total transaction of $4,644,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,101,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,056,645,040.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.26, for a total value of $1,130,892.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,170,076.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.64, for a total transaction of $4,644,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,101,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,056,645,040.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 638,070 shares of company stock valued at $182,912,726 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $227.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $281.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.