Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 5.6%

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) traded down 5.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $277.13 and last traded at $277.82. 5,571,831 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 5,511,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $294.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Salesforce from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Mizuho restated a "buy" rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.26.

Salesforce Stock Down 7.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $264.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day moving average is $298.82 and its 200-day moving average is $259.77. 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 (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued 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 was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,539,948.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,539,948.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 922,375 shares of company stock worth $266,955,446 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,626,413 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $22,005,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,821 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $9,091,832,000 after buying an additional 391,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,519,719,000 after buying an additional 149,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by 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.