Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Declares $0.40 Quarterly Dividend

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share by the CRM provider on Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th.

Salesforce has a dividend payout ratio of 14.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Salesforce to earn $8.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.0%.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $244.02. 6,258,920 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,604,331. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.41.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total transaction of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,464,622.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,692 shares of company stock worth $21,006,957. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.