Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares dropped 0.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $323.92 and last traded at $327.46. Approximately 1,638,237 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 3,999,328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.73, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $334.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its 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 firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 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.