Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price dropped 0.2% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $270.41 and last traded at $273.29. Approximately 2,311,778 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 5,663,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.81.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 596,379 shares of company stock worth $175,587,970 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $264.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during 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%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 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.