We recently compiled a list of the 10 Large-Cap Stocks Insiders Are Selling Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stands against the other large-cap stocks. We previously covered 10 Large-Cap Stocks Insiders Are Buying Recently.
Why should investors track insider moves? Is it a bad sign for the company when insiders sell their shares? Not necessarily; just like insider buying activity doesn’t always mean the stock is heading for growth. Both insider selling and buying can be driven by various motives, it’s important to consider these moves within the broader context of the company’s fundamentals, industry trends, and overall market conditions.
However, insiders or people in high positions within a company—such as executives and directors, often have precious insights into the company’s strategy, plans, next moves and initiatives. Sometimes, for example, when a CEO or CFO invests their own money to acquire company shares, it can signal strong confidence in the company’s potential.
Similarly, when insiders are selling their shares, it can sometimes mean that the management is losing confidence. On the other hand, it also happens that large shareholders just want to trim their holdings to more appropriate position sizes based on the risk/reward. Insiders can also decide to sell their shares due to personal financial reasons that have nothing to do with the company.
This means that both insider selling and buying can be driven by various motives, and therefore, any insider trading activity should be carefully analyzed only with other factors. That’s why due diligence before any investment is of the utmost importance. However, insider trading activity in combination with other relevant determinants can offer valuable insights into a company’s capabilities, helping investors make more informed investment decisions.
To identify the 10 large-cap stocks insiders are selling recently, we considered only stocks with a market capitalization of more than $10 billion. We first used Insider Monkey’s insider trading stock screener and looked for stocks with at least two insiders selling over the last two months.
With each stock we note the number of recent insider sales and the company’s current market capitalization. But why is it important to follow insider activity? Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here)
A customer service team in an office setting using the company’s Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Insiders Selling: 8
Market Capitalization: $316.585B
Salesforce, a company that designs and develops cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationships, is also one of the 12 Best Long-Term Growth Stocks to Buy Now. It offers applications focused on customer service and support, market automation, analytics, sales force automation, and e-commerce, while also providing industry-specific solutions.
Over the last two months, eight insiders, including the Chair and CEO, President and CFO, and COO, sold a total of $535.84 million worth of Salesforce shares at an average price of $340.83 per share. Salesforce shares are now trading at $324.40 per share, having lost 2.97% since the beginning of the year.
Some analysts are bullish on the stock mostly because of Agentforce, an autonomous AI application that provides specialized support to customers and employees. Agentforce integrates generative AI agents into business workflows. Data from StockAnalysis reveals that 39 analysts have an average “Buy” rating on the stock, with a 12-month stock price target being $374.11, representing an increase of 15.32% from the latest price.
For the third quarter of 2024, the company reported revenue of $9.44 billion, up 8% year-over-year. In December, the company’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per share.
Recently, Mad Money host, Jim Cramer, praised Agentforce’s market penetrations, its latest advertisement campaign with Mathew McConaughey, and the company’s newly appointed CEO. He said that “Salesforce….is a huuuuuuge buy.”
Overall CRM ranks 8th on our list of the large-cap stocks insiders are selling recently. While we acknowledge the potential of CRM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
