Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 3.1% – Here’s Why

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price dropped 3.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $282.92 and last traded at $283.91. Approximately 2,526,496 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 6,707,571 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $274.76 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $328.10 and its 200-day moving average is $308.16. 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 issued 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after acquiring an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.