Insider Selling: Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Insider Sells $2,261,955.15 in Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) insider R David Schmaier sold 8,281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $2,261,955.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,131,669.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

R David Schmaier also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, April 16th, R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $273.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.44. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after purchasing an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,762,331,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.