Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 5.8% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Salesforce Inc. shares fell 5.8% following insider selling by CEO Marc Benioff, who sold 2,250 shares for $566,235, reducing his stake marginally to approximately 11.9 million shares.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with KeyCorp lowering their price target from $440 to $400, while Morgan Stanley raised theirs from $404 to $405, indicating a mixed outlook for future performance.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with an EPS of $2.91 and revenue of $10.24 billion, also projecting EPS of 11.330-11.370 for FY 2026.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares dropped 5.8% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $234.62 and last traded at $241.64. Approximately 13,629,540 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 86% from the average daily volume of 7,339,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.45.

Specifically, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $566,235.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,997,665,957.86. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.30, for a total value of $574,425.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,041,024,076.30. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $334.46.

Salesforce Trading Down 5.7%

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 cap of $231.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's 50-day moving average is $256.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,823,481 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $24,221,275,000 after purchasing an additional 909,853 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,452,998,000 after purchasing an additional 776,300 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $5,669,224,000 after purchasing an additional 114,504 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $2,826,049,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the first 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 valued at $2,484,616,000 after buying an additional 600,386 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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