Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 0.2% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $270.41 and last traded at $273.29. 2,311,778 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 5,663,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.81.

Specifically, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a PE ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $296.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.40 dividend. 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 51.3% in the first quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 9,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares during the last quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 7.3% in the first quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 12,679 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $227,000. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.7% in the first quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 3,210 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 313.9% in the first quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 3,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.