Short Interest in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Declines By 9.3%
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,650,000 shares, a drop of 9.3% from the March 15th total of 10,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total transaction of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Salesforce
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after buying an additional 151,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.26.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM
Salesforce Trading Down 7.4 %
Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $21.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $272.60. 15,916,461 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,633,860. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.77. The firm has a market cap of $264.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.
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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