Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.4% on Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price fell 0.4% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $254.11 and last traded at $255.23. 786,628 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 6,928,011 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.21.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,951,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,887,162,963.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,951,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,887,162,963.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 494,952 shares of company stock worth $135,205,453. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Argus raised their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $248.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.46.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised 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 worth $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.