Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.8% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price fell 0.8% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $272.81 and last traded at $274.17. 1,043,263 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,642,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.32.

Specifically, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total transaction of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $263.69 billion, a PE ratio of 64.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $2,499,000. 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.