Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 55,531 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 31% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,522 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.12, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $336.73 and a 200-day moving average of $294.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.