Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 3% – Here’s Why
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailySalesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report)’s stock price rose 3% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $239.45 and last traded at $236.5210. 9,560,184 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 13,908,743 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.57.
Key Salesforce News
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Listen Labs, an AI-powered customer research and human-simulation platform. Listen Labs’ agents can design studies, conduct research and synthesize customer insights in days rather than months, potentially strengthening Salesforce’s AI product portfolio and supporting demand for its enterprise platform. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Listen Labs
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is broadening AI governance across its ecosystem. Stensul launched a beta integration with Marketing Cloud Next that adds structured controls for personalized AI-generated content, while June AI joined Salesforce’s AgentExchange partner community. These developments may help CRM address enterprise compliance concerns and accelerate adoption of AI workflows. Salesforce Deepens AI Workflow Governance Across Its Platform
- Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating after a customer survey, adding support to the view that Salesforce’s durable enterprise software franchise and embedded customer relationships can provide a foundation for long-term AI monetization. Salesforce in Focus as Oppenheimer Reiterates Outperform Rating
- Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce is being discussed as an AI stock rebuilding after a substantial pullback. Its established customer base and workflow integration may represent a competitive moat, but the company still needs sustained AI revenue growth to justify renewed investor enthusiasm. AI Stocks Rebuilding After Brutal Pullbacks
- Negative Sentiment: Some investors caution that CRM has already gained substantially in recent months, increasing the pressure on upcoming earnings and AI execution. Concerns that the payoff from its AI strategy may take time could limit further upside or create volatility despite the favorable acquisition news. Salesforce Goes Headless in AI Push
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. DA Davidson set a $225.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.14.
Read Our Latest Research Report on CRM
Salesforce Stock Up 3.0%
The firm has a market cap of $194.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $219.02 and its 200 day moving average is $191.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce
In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in Salesforce by 410.3% in the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Salesforce
Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.
The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.