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

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 6th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th.

Salesforce has a dividend payout ratio of 14.4% meaning 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

NYSE CRM traded down $2.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $243.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,626,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,589,028. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.66, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $254.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business’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 posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.41.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’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 $229,434.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at $13,072,660.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,692 shares of company stock valued at $21,006,957 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.