Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 1.3% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Shares of Salesforce Inc. fell 1.3% following insider selling, with CEO Marc Benioff selling 2,250 shares valued at approximately $539,527.50.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Salesforce, with Piper Sandler setting a new target of $315.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.91 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.8%.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) dropped 1.3% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $240.72 and last traded at $242.11. Approximately 7,873,136 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 7,663,022 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.33.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.79, for a total transaction of $539,527.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,856,275,610.09. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.32, for a total value of $542,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,874,500,313.72. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.89.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $230.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $244.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in Salesforce by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 27,786 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $7,577,000 after acquiring an additional 6,430 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.6% in the second quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 59,970 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $16,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,367,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Salesforce by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 344,887 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $93,016,000 after buying an additional 81,916 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 110,968 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,260,000 after purchasing an additional 7,091 shares during the last quarter. 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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