Salesforce (CRM) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) is anticipated to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, February 26th. Analysts expect Salesforce to post earnings of $2.60 per share and revenue of $10.04 billion for the quarter. Parties that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts expect Salesforce to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $332.36 and a 200 day moving average of $306.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $295.01 billion, a PE ratio of 50.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.53.

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.