Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 0.1% After Insider Selling

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $260.50 and last traded at $260.74. 1,047,350 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,548,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.09.

Specifically, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total transaction of $1,104,474.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.50.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $252.66 billion, a PE ratio of 46.90, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.49.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at $910,220,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $874,748,000. 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.