Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.4% - Should You Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $257.47 and last traded at $258.98. Approximately 7,623,720 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 6,535,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $262.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. DA Davidson restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $268.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.53, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company 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%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors 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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