Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.7% Following Insider Selling
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) shares fell 0.7% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $296.41 and last traded at $297.48. 750,843 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 5,506,233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $299.62.
Specifically, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total value of $2,702,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,179,231.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total value of $2,702,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,179,231.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded Salesforce from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.97.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce
Salesforce Stock Down 0.2 %
The firm has a 50-day moving average of $298.65 and a 200 day moving average of $258.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.23, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.28.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.
Institutional Trading of Salesforce
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Aspect Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $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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