Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff Sells 2,250 Shares

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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, July 7th, Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.82, for a total value of $609,345.00.
• On Thursday, July 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.91, for a total value of $614,047.50.
• On Tuesday, July 1st, Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $613,080.00.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $5.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $258.23. 7,004,264 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,540,561. The company has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a PE ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $272.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.24. 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 (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 30,483 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $10,191,000 after buying an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,630 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,214,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.