Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 0.7% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $254.54 and last traded at $255.30. 1,626,063 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,943,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $257.10.

Specifically, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total value of $1,400,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,193,087.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 507,934 shares of company stock valued at $139,262,073. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $248.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $259.79 and a 200-day moving average of $276.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth about $910,220,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.