Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $278.57, but opened at $270.93. Salesforce shares last traded at $270.42, with a volume of 1,722,592 shares traded.
Specifically, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,474 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.59, for a total transaction of $731,289.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,858,365.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,707,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,474 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.59, for a total value of $731,289.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,858,365.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 636,344 shares of company stock valued at $184,877,874 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus lifted their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.94.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce
Salesforce Stock Performance
The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. LGT Group Foundation lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 26,070 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 2,249 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 5.1% in the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 6.8% in the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 18,306 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 4.2% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.4% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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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