On September 7, 2023, Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce Inc (CRM, Financial), sold 15,000 shares of the company. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who has sold a total of 1,323,025 shares over the past year and purchased none.
Marc Benioff is a renowned figure in the tech industry, having co-founded Salesforce Inc in 1999. Under his leadership, the company has grown into a leading provider of enterprise software, specializing in customer relationship management (CRM, Financial) services. Salesforce's cloud-based applications for sales, service, marketing, and more don't require IT experts to set up or manage — simply log in and start connecting to customers in a whole new way.
The insider's recent sell-off comes amidst a broader trend of insider selling at Salesforce Inc. Over the past year, there have been 251 insider sells and no insider buys. This trend is visualized in the following chart:
On the day of the insider's recent sell, shares of Salesforce Inc were trading at $221.7 apiece, giving the company a market cap of $218.69 billion. This price represents a price-earnings ratio of 141.36, which is higher than the industry median of 27.86 but lower than the company’s historical median price-earnings ratio.
Despite the insider's sell-off, Salesforce Inc appears to be modestly undervalued according to the GuruFocus Value. With a price of $221.7 and a GuruFocus Value of $263.50, the stock has a price-to-GF-Value ratio of 0.84. The GF Value is an intrinsic value estimate developed by GuruFocus, calculated based on historical multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor, and future estimates of business performance from Morningstar analysts. The GF Value is visualized in the following chart:
While the insider's recent sell-off may raise eyebrows, it's important to consider the broader context. The insider has been selling shares consistently over the past year, and the company's stock appears to be modestly undervalued according to the GuruFocus Value. As always, investors should conduct their own due diligence and consider multiple factors before making investment decisions.
