Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 3.3% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares dropped 3.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $340.00 and last traded at $342.23. Approximately 3,118,344 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 6,085,889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $354.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $338.53 and its 200 day moving average is $296.43. The company has a market cap of $328.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.50, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $27,000. 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.