Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 1% Higher After Dividend Announcement

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $367.15 and last traded at $364.99. 1,752,091 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 6,393,673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $361.38.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.86.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $346.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $308.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.43. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.