Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $278.57, but opened at $270.93. Salesforce shares last traded at $270.42, with a volume of 1,722,592 shares changing hands.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 636,344 shares of company stock worth $184,877,874 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.94.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $287.38 and a 200-day moving average of $273.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.66, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after buying an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $910,220,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Salesforce

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.