Insider Selling: Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director Sells 15,353 Shares of Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Director G Mason Morfit sold 15,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.55, for a total transaction of $5,228,464.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,898,509 shares in the company, valued at $987,087,239.95. This represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

G Mason Morfit also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 18th, G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $7.42 on Friday, reaching $343.65. 14,740,856 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,451,860. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.87 billion, a PE ratio of 56.52, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. FBN Securities raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.86.

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.