Sundeep G. Reddy Sells 500 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.4 %

CRM traded up $4.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $344.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,960,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,172,813. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $338.67 and its 200-day moving average is $298.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.