Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Sells $4,121,850.00 in Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,737,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,500,090,086.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, April 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00.
• On Wednesday, April 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00.
• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total value of $4,110,450.00.
• On Friday, April 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 17th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total transaction of $4,152,450.00.
• On Monday, April 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00.
• On Friday, April 12th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 10th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00.
• On Monday, April 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total value of $4,530,450.00.
• On Friday, April 5th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total transaction of $4,502,100.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $6.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $268.94. 5,211,266 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,632,453. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.20. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business 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 company earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. 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 MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $2,762,331,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.