Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $227.00 and last traded at $230.52, with a volume of 538632 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $232.68.
Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.45, for a total transaction of $532,012.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,816,490,962.95. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.34, for a total transaction of $540,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,862,826,974.14. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.40, for a total transaction of $558,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,958,834,236.40. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.84.
View Our Latest Report on CRM
Salesforce Stock Up 1.0%
The business's 50 day moving average price is $262.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,823,481 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $24,221,275,000 after buying an additional 909,853 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,669,224,000 after buying an additional 114,504 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,826,049,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,484,616,000 after buying an additional 600,386 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Salesforce
(
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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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