Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.6% After Insider Selling

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 2.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $253.46 and last traded at $254.5370. Approximately 6,727,350 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 7,767,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.34.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $580,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,567,632.20. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.04, for a total transaction of $567,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,002,192,354.84. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.6%

The company has a market cap of $242.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $247.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $258.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,823,481 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,221,275,000 after buying an additional 909,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,452,998,000 after buying an additional 776,300 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,669,224,000 after buying an additional 114,504 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,826,049,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,484,616,000 after acquiring an additional 600,386 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.