Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Here’s Why

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price traded down 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $329.60 and last traded at $332.17. 1,116,269 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 5,151,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $336.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $293.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.50 billion, a PE ratio of 55.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock valued at $401,945,558. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 80,591 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,944,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,933 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $361,000. Finally, Strategic Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 16,019 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,356,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.