Marc Benioff Sells 15,000 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Marc Benioff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 15th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00.
• On Friday, April 12th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 10th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00.
• On Monday, April 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total value of $4,530,450.00.
• On Friday, April 5th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total value of $4,502,100.00.
• On Wednesday, April 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.42, for a total value of $4,581,300.00.
• On Monday, April 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.72, for a total transaction of $4,525,800.00.
• On Wednesday, March 27th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.45, for a total value of $4,521,750.00.
• On Monday, March 25th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.86, for a total transaction of $4,587,900.00.
• On Thursday, March 21st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.64, for a total value of $4,644,600.00.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $270.37 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after buying an additional 151,440 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Wedbush boosted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.87.

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.