Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Short Interest Update

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,650,000 shares, a decline of 9.3% from the March 15th total of 10,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,761,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,770,697,095.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,697,095.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 912,375 shares of company stock valued at $264,376,996. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its position in Salesforce by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded down $1.09 on Wednesday, reaching $276.32. 4,195,589 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,706,697. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $298.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.03 billion, a PE ratio of 65.90, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

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.