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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $269.28 and last traded at $269.37. Approximately 1,390,767 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,642,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.19.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,782,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,536,230,764.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,782,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,536,230,764.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $295.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.29, a PEG ratio of 2.10 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 110.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $893,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,421 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.