Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.5% on Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 2.5% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $269.28 and last traded at $269.37. Approximately 1,390,767 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 5,642,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.19.

Specifically, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Argus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price objective (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.98 billion, a PE ratio of 65.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $295.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 110.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $893,336,000 after buying an additional 1,780,421 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.