R David Schmaier Sells 3,910 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,848.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $271.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $263.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after purchasing an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $401,215,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.