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

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of CRM traded down $0.83 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $271.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,252,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,538,830. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $259.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50 day moving average is $271.69 and its 200 day moving average is $293.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.

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.

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