Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0% After Insider Selling

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) dropped 0% during trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $275.19 and last traded at $276.64. Approximately 531,042 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 5,410,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.67.Specifically, 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 value of $4,148,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,602,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,485,677,624.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.22, for a total transaction of $1,164,324.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,091,541.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,602,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,485,677,624.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 614,193 shares of company stock worth $178,936,148 in the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $268.70 billion, a PE ratio of 66.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.59.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $9.29 billion for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 35.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 92,573 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $27,881,000 after acquiring an additional 24,152 shares during the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $598,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 950 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 4,815 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,981.7% in the 1st quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 263,669 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $79,412,000 after buying an additional 255,113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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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