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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.63, for a total value of $4,179,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,632,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,519,745,272.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, May 6th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total value of $4,131,750.00.
• On Friday, May 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.01, for a total transaction of $4,125,150.00.
• On Wednesday, May 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00.
• On Monday, April 29th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00.
• On Friday, April 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total value of $4,126,050.00.
• On Wednesday, April 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total transaction of $4,149,750.00.
• 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 stock was 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 shares were 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.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CRM opened at $275.17 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $266.36 billion, a PE ratio of 65.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $292.87 and its 200 day moving average is $268.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Gratus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 595,301 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $120,715,000 after purchasing an additional 10,844 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.