Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy Sells 2,425 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $276.63. The company had a trading volume of 6,283,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,907. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $296.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 16.5% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 8.8% during the third quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,299 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 15.1% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $248,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 226.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $310.61.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.