Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.7% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 0.7% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $254.54 and last traded at $255.30. Approximately 1,626,063 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 6,943,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $257.10.

Specifically, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,951,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,887,162,963.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 509,952 shares of company stock worth $139,786,753 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.4 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $259.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.47. The firm has a market cap of $248.20 billion, a PE ratio of 46.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 7.19%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Market Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $579,000. Old Port Advisors purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,415,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.