Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Sells $287,743.32 in Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CRM traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $305.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,892,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,812,057. The business’s 50 day moving average is $292.85 and its 200 day moving average is $251.18. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.31 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $296.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.82, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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 return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Salesforce from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.32.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after buying an additional 151,440 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.