Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Insider R David Schmaier Sells 3,910 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE CRM traded down $1.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $276.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,198,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,706,728. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $268.04 billion, a PE ratio of 65.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,499,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.