Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Up 5.4% After Dividend Announcement

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded up 5.4% on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $261.88 and last traded at $260.78. 15,653,337 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 100% from the average session volume of 7,822,140 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.46.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Northland Capmk downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, October 17th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.54.

Salesforce Trading Up 5.4%

The stock has a market cap of $248.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.64.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 184,284 shares of company stock worth $43,862,999 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,814,000 after buying an additional 3,387 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $56,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,176 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in Salesforce by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 148,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $40,427,000 after acquiring an additional 12,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.