Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.2% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 0.2% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $270.41 and last traded at $273.29. Approximately 2,311,778 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 5,663,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.81.

Specifically, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 611,379 shares of company stock worth $179,698,420 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.0 %

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $296.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.28. The stock has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a P/E 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 quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $9,268,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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.