Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $259.68 and last traded at $260.00. 2,677,651 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 6,511,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $288.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.38.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $250.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $252.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.82.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total transaction of $3,249,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 123,764 shares of company stock valued at $30,102,367 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted 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 worth $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.