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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,662,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Friday, May 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.01, for a total value of $4,125,150.00.
• On Wednesday, May 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00.
• On Monday, April 29th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00.
• On Friday, April 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total value of $4,126,050.00.
• On Wednesday, April 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00.
• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total transaction of $4,110,450.00.
• On Friday, April 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 17th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00.
• On Monday, April 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total value of $4,170,900.00.
• On Friday, April 12th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CRM traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $277.18. 3,240,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,524,359. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $268.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $293.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $166,637,000 after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.