Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 2.4% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 2.4% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $246.25 and last traded at $246.28. 1,988,751 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 6,901,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.43.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total value of $4,170,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total value of $4,170,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,590,789,261.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $912,699,429.53. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 439,152 shares of company stock valued at $118,115,911 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.0 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $243.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.