Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff Sells 15,000 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total transaction of $4,521,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,041,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,931,259,490.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 25th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.86, for a total transaction of $4,587,900.00.
• On Thursday, March 21st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.64, for a total transaction of $4,644,600.00.
• On Tuesday, March 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.59, for a total transaction of $4,493,850.00.
• On Friday, March 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.12, for a total transaction of $4,441,800.00.
• On Wednesday, March 13th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.23, for a total transaction of $4,593,450.00.
• On Monday, March 11th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.97, for a total transaction of $4,574,550.00.
• On Wednesday, March 6th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.25, for a total transaction of $4,563,750.00.
• On Friday, March 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00.
• On Wednesday, February 28th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.36, for a total transaction of $4,490,400.00.
• On Monday, February 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.46, for a total transaction of $4,506,900.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $301.18 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.10. The company has a market cap of $292.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.31 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.32.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,626,413 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $22,005,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,821 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,653,307 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,644,718,000 after acquiring an additional 143,962 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after acquiring an additional 149,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.