G Mason Morfit Sells 722,300 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Friday, December 20th, G Mason Morfit sold 15,353 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.55, for a total transaction of $5,228,464.15.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $343.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $323.14 and a 200-day moving average of $279.31. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.86.

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.