Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff Sells 15,000 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,707,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 29th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00.
• On Friday, April 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00.
• On Wednesday, April 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total transaction of $4,149,750.00.
• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total transaction of $4,110,450.00.
• On Friday, April 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 17th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total transaction of $4,152,450.00.
• On Monday, April 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00.
• On Friday, April 12th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 10th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total transaction of $4,491,300.00.
• On Monday, April 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total transaction of $4,530,450.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded up $3.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $272.13. The company had a trading volume of 3,646,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,589,559. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.67. The company has a market cap of $263.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.76 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $2,762,331,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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