Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Amy E. Weaver Sells 5,864 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $271.85 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $263.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.73, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.97. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% during 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 buying an additional 10,252,257 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Starboard Value LP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $401,215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

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.