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 given 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 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th.

Salesforce has a payout ratio of 14.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Salesforce to earn $8.38 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 19.1%.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $254.57 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.79, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $253.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.91.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Oscar Munoz purchased 2,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $243.69 per share, with a total value of $499,808.19. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,165.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Oscar Munoz bought 2,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $243.69 per share, for a total transaction of $499,808.19. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,165.94. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,376 shares of company stock worth $15,878,005. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.55.

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.