Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.8% Following Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.8% during trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $272.81 and last traded at $274.17. 1,043,263 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,642,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.32.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,559,293,833.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 922,149 shares of company stock worth $267,104,898. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TheStreet raised Salesforce from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $263.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $297.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,499,000. 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.