Insider Selling: Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Sells 942 Shares of Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $301.41 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $187.31 and a one year high of $318.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $293.59 and a 200 day moving average of $251.75. The company has a market capitalization of $292.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.76, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. 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) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.32.

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.