Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares fell 0.2% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $270.41 and last traded at $273.29. 2,311,778 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 5,663,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.81.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total value of $4,211,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,671,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,838,726,701.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total value of $4,211,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,671,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,838,726,701.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 616,589 shares of company stock worth $181,071,306. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $267.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $296.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.