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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares traded down 0.2% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $270.41 and last traded at $273.29. 2,311,778 shares traded hands during 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total transaction of $4,211,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,671,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,838,726,701.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total transaction of $4,211,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,671,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,838,726,701.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $296.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business 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. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth $33,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 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.