Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.4% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $254.11 and last traded at $255.23. Approximately 786,628 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 6,928,011 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.21.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,951,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,887,162,963.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total value of $4,502,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,951,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,887,162,963.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.75, for a total transaction of $1,267,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 105,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,936,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock valued at $136,281,661 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.8 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $259.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $252.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 7.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,824 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 387,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $78,512,000 after acquiring an additional 17,333 shares during the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 217.5% during the 3rd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,648 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 155.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 56,589 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,475,000 after purchasing an additional 34,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 236,788 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $48,016,000 after purchasing an additional 66,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.