Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRMGet Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 55,531 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 31% compared to the average volume of 42,522 call options.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. RAM Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 57,543 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $19,238,000 after buying an additional 860 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

View Our Latest Stock Report on CRM

Salesforce Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE CRM opened at $360.00 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $337.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $295.28. 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 capitalization of $344.52 billion, a PE ratio of 59.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRMGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

About Salesforce

(Get Free Report)

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.

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