Insider Selling: Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Sells 15,000 Shares of Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.59, for a total transaction of $4,148,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,602,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,485,677,624.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, May 13th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.84, for a total transaction of $4,152,600.00.
• On Wednesday, May 8th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.63, for a total transaction of $4,179,450.00.
• On Monday, May 6th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00.
• On Friday, May 3rd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.01, for a total transaction of $4,125,150.00.
• On Wednesday, May 1st, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00.
• On Monday, April 29th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00.
• On Friday, April 26th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.07, for a total transaction of $4,126,050.00.
• On Wednesday, April 24th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total value of $4,149,750.00.
• On Monday, April 22nd, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.03, for a total value of $4,110,450.00.
• On Friday, April 19th, Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $287.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.73.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $166,637,000 after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.