Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.2% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) were down 0.2% 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 traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 5,663,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.81.

Specifically, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 596,379 shares of company stock valued at $175,587,970 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.07, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given 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 was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.