Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 3.7% – Time to Sell?
by Tristan Rich · The Markets DailySalesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) shares fell 3.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $175.78 and last traded at $176.1830. 13,282,251 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 12,805,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.96.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.21.
View Our Latest Research Report on CRM
Salesforce Trading Down 3.7%
The firm has a market capitalization of $162.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.80.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.54%.
Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Transactions at Salesforce
In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,552,896,000 after acquiring an additional 47,189,352 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,106,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,636,161 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 924.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,028,807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,019,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Salesforce Company Profile
Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.
Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.