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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share by the CRM provider on Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%.

Salesforce has a payout ratio of 14.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Salesforce to earn $8.41 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 Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $361.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.25 billion, a PE ratio of 59.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $308.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.43. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% 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.