Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03), RTT News reports. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $0.42 on Tuesday, reaching $331.43. 10,241,484 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,306,356. The company has a market capitalization of $316.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.45, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $302.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.49.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $385.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $345.31.

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.