Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 0.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $322.81 and last traded at $323.15. Approximately 775,105 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 6,294,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Northland Securities raised shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $286.61 and a 200 day moving average of $266.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.20, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,622.79. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, XN LP grew its stake in Salesforce by 24.2% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.