Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.42 Per Share

Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the CRM provider on Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a 5.0% increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Salesforce has a dividend payout ratio of 12.7% 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 Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $3.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $277.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,755,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,389,262. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $311.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,128,626.68. This represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,875 shares of company stock valued at $13,580,649 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Salesforce stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.74.

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.