Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 1.1% Following Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares were down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $295.23 and last traded at $295.90. Approximately 817,039 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,478,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.15.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total transaction of $2,702,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,179,231.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 907,375 shares of company stock worth $262,519,346. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.77.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $298.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $285.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.