Insider Selling: Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sells 2,425 Shares of Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE CRM opened at $276.63 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $296.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. KeyCorp started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. UBS Group upped 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. Wedbush upped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.