Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.38 EPS

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The CRM provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($0.38), Zacks reports. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $307.19. 11,139,246 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,340,430. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $331.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.97. The company has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.47.

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.