Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Sells $4,064,100.00 in Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total value of $4,110,450.00.
• On Wednesday, April 17th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00.
• On Monday, April 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total value of $4,170,900.00.
• On Friday, April 12th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 10th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00.
• On Monday, April 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total value of $4,530,450.00.
• On Friday, April 5th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total value of $4,502,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.42, for a total value of $4,581,300.00.
• On Monday, April 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.72, for a total value of $4,525,800.00.
• On Wednesday, March 27th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $4,521,750.00.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $276.19 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.37. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given 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.

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.