Sundeep G. Reddy Sells 65 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 65 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.78, for a total value of $17,210.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,723,453.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $270.44 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $262.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $254.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its holdings in Salesforce by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after purchasing an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, XN LP increased its holdings in Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Barclays cut their price objective on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.73.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.