Amy E. Weaver Sells 942 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

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

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $301.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.75. The stock has a market cap of $292.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.76, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.31 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,626,413 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $22,005,454,000 after buying an additional 1,240,821 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,653,307 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,644,718,000 after buying an additional 143,962 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,519,719,000 after purchasing an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.