Salesforce (CRM) – Analysts' Recent Ratings Updates

On December 13th, 2024, numerous research firms made adjustments to their ratings and price targets for Salesforce (NYSE: CRM). Here's a summary of these updates:

• On December 12, 2024, analysts at Macquarie initiated coverage with a "neutral" rating and set a price target of $370.00.
• On December 4, 2024, Scotiabank raised its price target from $425.00 to $440.00, maintaining a "sector outperform" rating.
• Also on December 4, JPMorgan Chase increased its price target from $340.00 to $380.00, giving it an "overweight" rating.
• Barclays PLC raised its target on the same day from $415.00 to $425.00 and maintained an "overweight" rating.
• Morgan Stanley lifted its price target from $330.00 to $405.00 on December 4, retaining an "overweight" status.
• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target from $300.00 to $420.00, labeling it as "outperform".
• Oppenheimer Holdings reaffirmed its "outperform" rating on December 4 with a price target upgrade from $385.00 to $415.00.
• BMO Capital Markets raised its target from $385.00 to $425.00 on the same date with an "outperform" rating.
• Robert W. Baird increased its target from $340.00 to $430.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating on December 4.
• Northland Securities confirmed their "outperform" rating with a new target of $440.00, up from $400.00.
• Citigroup Inc. raised its target from $368.00 to $390.00 and kept a "neutral" rating.
• Guggenheim repeated its "neutral" rating.
• Loop Capital lifted its target from $340.00 to $360.00 and maintained a "hold" rating.
• Jefferies Financial raised its target from $400.00 to $425.00, keeping a "buy" rating.
• Canaccord Genuity lifted its target from $315.00 to $415.00, maintaining a "buy" status.
• Goldman Sachs raised its target from $360.00 to $400.00, keeping a "buy" rating.
• Truist Financial reaffirmed its "buy" rating with an increased target of $400.00, up from $380.00.
• Stifel Nicolaus increased its target from $390.00 to $425.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Needham & Company raised its target from $345.00 to $375.00, retaining a "buy" rating.
• Bank of America also raised its target from $390.00 to $440.00, maintaining a "buy" rating.
• On December 3, 2024, DA Davidson raised its target from $250.00 to $300.00 and kept a "neutral" rating.
• JMP Securities reaffirmed its "market outperform" rating on December 3 with a target of $450.00.
• Piper Sandler raised its target from $325.00 to $395.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Citigroup Inc. also adjusted its target from $290.00 to $368.00 on November 27, 2024, maintaining a "neutral" rating.
• On November 25, 2024, Wedbush raised its target from $325.00 to $375.00 and maintained an "outperform" rating.
• Truist Financial increased its target from $315.00 to $380.00, keeping a "buy" rating on November 25.
• UBS Group AG raised its target from $275.00 to $360.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating on November 22.
• JMP Securities also increased its target from $342.00 to $450.00, maintaining a "market outperform" rating on November 22.
• Oppenheimer reaffirmed its "outperform" rating on November 21 with a target increase from $330.00 to $385.00.
• TD Cowen raised its target from $290.00 to $340.00, now holding a "hold" rating.
• JPMorgan Chase also raised its target from $310.00 to $340.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating on November 20.
• On November 19, 2024, Erste Group Bank AG upgraded Salesforce from a "hold" to a "buy" rating.
• Scotiabank initiated coverage on November 18 with a "sector outperform" rating and a $425.00 target.
• BMO Capital Markets adjusted its target on November 15 from $305.00 to $385.00, keeping an "outperform" rating.
• Loop Capital raised its target on November 14 from $270.00 to $340.00 while maintaining a "hold" rating.
• Bank of America increased its target from $325.00 to $390.00 on November 13, still holding a "buy" rating.
• Wells Fargo & Company adjusted its target from $275.00 to $330.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating on November 12.
• Jefferies Financial raised its target from $350.00 to $400.00, keeping a "buy" rating on November 11.
• Salesforce had its target raised by Stifel Nicolaus on October 28 from $320.00 to $350.00 with a "buy" rating.
• On October 24, Oppenheimer reaffirmed its "outperform" rating with a target increase to $330.00, up from $300.00.
• Cfra set a new price target of $343.00 for Salesforce on October 17.

Salesforce Shares Performance

Salesforce's stock opened at $358.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11, indicating that it is able to cover its short-term obligations. The debt-to-equity ratio is 0.14, which shows a strong capital structure. Remarkably, Salesforce has recorded a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $314.60, while the 200-day simple moving average is $274.42. It has a market capital of $342.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.91, a PEG ratio of 3.27, and a beta of 1.30.

Quarterly Earnings Report

Salesforce recently announced its quarterly earnings on December 3rd, 2024. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.41, slightly missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.03. The revenue for the quarter was $9.44 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations of $9.35 billion. Year-over-year, the company's revenue increased by 8.3%. Last year during the same quarter, the firm posted an EPS of $1.62. Analysts project that Salesforce, Inc. will report an EPS of 7.48 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Declaration

Salesforce also announced a quarterly dividend to be paid on January 9th. Shareholders on record as of December 18th will receive a dividend of $0.40, representing an annualized dividend of $1.60, with a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is December 18th. Currently, Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio stands at 26.32%.

Insider Transactions

In recent insider transactions, Miguel Milano sold 719 shares on November 25th, at an average price of $342.81, totaling $246,480.39. This sale resulted in a 13.37% decrease in their holdings, and the insider now owns 4,659 shares valued at $1,597,151.79. Additionally, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares on October 29th for $18,156,600.00. In total, insiders sold 138,498 shares worth $40,983,349 in the last ninety days. Company insiders currently hold 3.20% of the stock.Salesforce, CRM, analysts