Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.1% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price dropped 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $295.23 and last traded at $295.90. Approximately 817,039 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 5,478,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.15.

Specifically, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total value of $2,702,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at $16,179,231.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total transaction of $2,702,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at $16,179,231.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,958,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,880,100,241.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 907,375 shares of company stock worth $262,519,346. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.77.

Salesforce Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $298.82 and its 200-day moving average is $258.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.06, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,626,413 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $22,005,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,821 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,091,832,000 after acquiring an additional 391,648 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after acquiring an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.