Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Short Interest Up 24.2% in March

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,970,000 shares, a growth of 24.2% from the February 28th total of 9,640,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,810,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $361.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $15,128,626.68. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nvest Financial LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $270.18. The stock had a trading volume of 4,596,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,653,506. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $307.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $311.78. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $259.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.44, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.10%.

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.