Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.5% on Insider Selling

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 2.5% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $256.51 and last traded at $256.78. Approximately 9,063,040 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 7,825,012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.41.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total transaction of $567,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,051,131.88. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.64, for a total transaction of $550,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,046,729.44. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.37, for a total transaction of $536,332.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,839,361,179.27. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.5%

The company has a market cap of $244.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $245.85 and its 200 day moving average is $257.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,201,000. WP Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 7,929 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Salesforce by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 37,099 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,809 shares during the period. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.