Needham & Company reiterated a Strong Buy rating on Cornerstone OnDemand (NASDAQ: CSOD), and raised the price target to $45.00 (from $40.00), following industry checks. Analyst Scott Berg expects an upside to billings estimates, based on increased win rates highlighted by the checks.

Berg commented, "We recently conducted a round of HCM industry checks that continue to detail an HCM spending environment, and specifically Talent Management, which remains strong and likely tracking nominally ahead of our expectations. We are raising our 2Q CSOD billings estimate based on our checks that highlight a more favorable competitive LMS environment and an increase in Recruiting replacements. We believe that recent product additions like within Life Sciences functionality detailed below and the company’s new analytics platform can also drive incremental billings upside in 2H15 bookings estimates as these products find improved sales traction in 2H15. We are expanding our valuation multiple and price target to $45 as we become more comfortable with the company's ability to drive full year billings growth above 25%."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Cornerstone OnDemand click here. For more ratings news on Cornerstone OnDemand click here.

Shares of Cornerstone OnDemand closed at $35.40 yesterday.