Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy Sells 2,425 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $2.82 on Tuesday, reaching $276.63. The company had a trading volume of 6,283,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,907. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $296.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Argus raised their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Nine equities 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 data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Salesforce by 110.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $893,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.