Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.7% on Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded down 0.7% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $295.25 and last traded at $295.91. 1,022,153 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,244,034 shares. The stock had previously closed at $298.01.

Specifically, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $284.44 billion, a PE ratio of 51.74, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $274.34 and its 200 day moving average is $263.56.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.