Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.8% Following Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares were down 0.8% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $272.81 and last traded at $274.17. Approximately 1,043,263 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,642,400 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.32.

Specifically, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 907,149 shares of company stock valued at $262,952,448. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.89. The stock has a market cap of $266.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in Salesforce by 8.7% in the 1st 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 lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after acquiring an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.