G Mason Morfit Sells 15,353 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director G Mason Morfit sold 15,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.55, for a total value of $5,228,464.15. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,898,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,087,239.95. The trade was a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

G Mason Morfit also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 18th, G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $343.65 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $328.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $378.86.

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.