Amy E. Weaver Sells 5,864 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the transaction, 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 this link.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $271.85 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $297.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.97. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.57 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.69 billion, a PE ratio of 64.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 8.7% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 18.8% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Salesforce by 42.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 21.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 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.