Salesforce (CRM) to Release Earnings on Tuesday

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is set to issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Tuesday, December 3rd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.43 per share for the quarter. Parties that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Salesforce to post $8 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $339.12 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.98. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $324.20 billion, a PE ratio of 58.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.66.

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.