Insider Selling: Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Sells 2,250 Shares of Stock

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $613,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $269.06 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 price objective (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.08.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 30,726 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $10,310,000 after acquiring an additional 862 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.