Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $295.00. The stock had previously closed at $276.03, but opened at $263.59. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce shares last traded at $258.62, with a volume of 5,359,775 shares changing hands.

CRM has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $342.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,553 shares of company stock worth $12,897,323 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,942 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7%

The stock has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $267.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.