Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded down 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $287.92 and last traded at $288.29. 525,073 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 6,475,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $290.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $275.10 billion, a PE ratio of 50.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,624.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,359,560.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,283,087 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Thomasville National Bank grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 101,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $27,664,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 155.4% in the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 116,004 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $31,751,000 after purchasing an additional 70,580 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in Salesforce by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,775 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 19,163 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,245,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 20.3% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 639 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 108 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.