Marc Benioff Sells 15,000 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,782,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,536,230,764.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total value of $4,110,450.00.
• On Friday, April 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00.
• 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was sold at an average price of $301.72, for a total value of $4,525,800.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $274.29 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.76 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a PE ratio of 65.31, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after buying an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 110.3% in 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 valued at $893,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,421 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Nine equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.