G Mason Morfit Sells 722,300 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

G Mason Morfit also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, December 20th, G Mason Morfit sold 15,353 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.55, for a total transaction of $5,228,464.15.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of CRM traded up $7.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $343.65. 14,740,856 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,451,860. The company has a market capitalization of $328.87 billion, a PE ratio of 56.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $322.03 and a 200 day moving average of $278.26. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $378.86.

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.

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