Insider Selling: Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Insider Sells $106,251.75 in Stock

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,605,922.55. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Miguel Milano also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 23rd, Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total value of $197,005.20.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $270.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $269.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $295.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.60 billion, a PE ratio of 42.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 19,451 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,503,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 7,898 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,290 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

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.