Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 2.1% – Here’s What Happened
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemSalesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report)’s share price fell 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $171.99 and last traded at $176.3530. 10,060,423 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 12,905,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.10.
Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is seeing continued optimism around its AI push, including coverage highlighting Agentforce momentum and a new collaboration with Cint to deliver AI-powered support, both of which support the company’s long-term automation and enterprise AI story. Article Title
- Positive Sentiment: Several market commentaries say analysts remain broadly bullish on Salesforce, and recent pieces continue to frame CRM as a potentially solid value or earnings-growth name heading into results. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Multiple previews focus on upcoming quarterly metrics, with investors watching whether Salesforce can beat estimates and show healthy revenue, margin, and subscription trends in the next report. Article Title
- Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce is being compared with other software peers on valuation and revenue trends, but these articles are largely framed as watch-items rather than new fundamental changes. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated an Underperform rating and a $160 price target, arguing Salesforce faces an “AI-driven structural reset,” which adds to concerns about the company’s growth outlook. Article Title
- Negative Sentiment: Citi also lowered its target on Salesforce, citing slower deal activity and rising competition, reinforcing the idea that near-term demand trends may be cooling. Article Title
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.12.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce
Salesforce Trading Down 2.1%
The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.80. The stock has a market cap of $144.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.
Salesforce declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In related news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought 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 directly 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 position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
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.