Marc Benioff Sells 15,000 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,737,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,500,090,086.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, April 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00.
• On Wednesday, April 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total transaction of $4,149,750.00.
• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total transaction of $4,110,450.00.
• On Friday, April 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 17th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total transaction of $4,152,450.00.
• On Monday, April 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00.
• On Friday, April 12th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 10th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total transaction of $4,491,300.00.
• On Monday, April 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total transaction of $4,530,450.00.
• On Friday, April 5th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $268.69 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $260.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.97, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $295.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.67. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.76 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 272,618 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $55,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,470 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $416,000. RMR Wealth Builders grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 5,529 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,883,000. Finally, Vicus Capital grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 153.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,575 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.