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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $1.09 on Wednesday, reaching $276.32. The company had a trading volume of 4,195,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,706,697. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.35 and its 200-day simple moving average 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 current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 912,375 shares of company stock valued at $264,376,996 in the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,420,381,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after purchasing an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Finally, Starboard Value LP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $401,215,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.