Marc Benioff Sells 2,250 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.91, for a total transaction of $614,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,383,139.87. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

• On Monday, July 7th, Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.82, for a total transaction of $609,345.00.
• On Tuesday, July 1st, Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $6.97 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $263.95. 7,236,872 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,543,738. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $252.34 billion, a PE ratio of 41.31, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $272.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.38. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.68.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.