Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Sells $4,148,850.00 in Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.59, for a total transaction of $4,148,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,602,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,485,677,624.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Wednesday, May 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.63, for a total transaction of $4,179,450.00.
• On Monday, May 6th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00.
• On Friday, May 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.01, for a total transaction of $4,125,150.00.
• On Wednesday, May 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00.
• On Monday, April 29th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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 stock was 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.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $277.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,998,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,438,188. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.90, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Argus raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.61.

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.

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