Salesforce Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 55,531 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 31% compared to the typical daily volume of 42,522 call options.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $360.00 on Wednesday. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $344.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.21, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $337.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.28. 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 announced its 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.