Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy Sells 65 Shares of Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 65 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $22,085.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,237,111.52. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $342.90 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $323.14 and its 200-day moving average is $279.61. The company has a market cap of $328.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.