Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 2.6% on Insider Selling

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 2.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $253.46 and last traded at $254.5370. 6,727,350 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 7,767,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.34.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $580,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,567,632.20. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.04, for a total transaction of $567,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,002,192,354.84. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $242.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $247.79 and its 200 day moving average is $258.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30.1% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,786 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,577,000 after buying an additional 6,430 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 59,970 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,353,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,367,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 344,887 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,016,000 after buying an additional 81,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,243 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the period. 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.