Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.5%

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 2.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $269.28 and last traded at $269.37. 1,390,767 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 5,642,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $276.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Argus raised their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $264.95 billion, a PE ratio of 64.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $296.65 and its 200-day moving average is $263.37.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after buying an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,762,331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.