Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1.8% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) traded up 1.8% during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $272.29 and last traded at $272.03. 1,731,516 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,589,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at $267.14.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.7%

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $266.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,173,564,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.