Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price dropped 0.2% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $270.41 and last traded at $273.29. Approximately 2,311,778 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 5,663,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.81.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $267.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.37.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 226.5% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $237,000. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.