Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was down 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $329.60 and last traded at $332.17. Approximately 1,116,269 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 5,151,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $320.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock valued at $401,945,558. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.