Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy Sells 436 Shares

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $333.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $319.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $336.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.01.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.9% during the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 23,264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,635 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 403.4% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after buying an additional 9,485 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 736,459 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $189,344,000 after buying an additional 102,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unisphere Establishment raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 559,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $143,719,000 after buying an additional 68,250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.