Salesforce Inc. (CRM) - What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is favorable: Fifty brokerages assign Salesforce a “Moderate Buy” rating, with 30 buys and three strong buys versus three sells. The average 12-month price target is $275.14, above the reported $228.95 share price.
• Salesforce delivered strong quarterly results: Earnings per share came in at $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion.
• Institutional support and cash generation are positives, but competition remains a risk: Institutional investors own 80.43% of the stock, and Salesforce offers strong free-cash-flow generation. However, migration efforts by competitors such as ServiceNow could pressure customer retention.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have issued a hold recommendation, thirty have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $275.14.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Wolfe Research raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying supports a software rebound. Salesforce is highlighted as a leading beneficiary of renewed institutional interest in software companies with sticky enterprise customers and valuable data. Analysts cited improving money-flow and relative-strength indicators, while Salesforce’s switching costs and investment in agentic AI could support customer retention and larger deals. Wall Street Left Software for Dead: 4 Stocks Institutions Are Buying Back
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation and cash generation remain attractive. Salesforce reportedly generated free cash flow equivalent to 8.2% of its market value, well above the S&P 500 median. Its depressed forward valuation, strong profitability and cash generation could provide room for a re-rating if AI products improve growth, renewals or deal sizes. Should You Buy Salesforce Stock For Its Cash?
• Positive Sentiment: Broker recommendations remain favorable. The average brokerage recommendation indicates a Buy, which may help sentiment. However, the reports caution that sell-side ratings can be overly optimistic and should not be used alone when making an investment decision. Brokers Suggest Investing in Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: New commerce partnership expands Salesforce’s product ecosystem. Forter was named a launch partner for Storefront Next and will provide fraud protection for Salesforce Loyalty Management. The collaboration strengthens Salesforce’s commerce-security offering, but its near-term financial impact is unclear. Salesforce Names a Launch Partner for Storefront Next
• Negative Sentiment: Migration competition remains a risk. Work4Flow launched a 90-day program designed to move enterprise customers from Salesforce to ServiceNow CRM, including data, workflows and custom business logic. While one program is unlikely to materially affect Salesforce immediately, it highlights competitive pressure and the importance of retaining large customers. Work4Flow Launches Salesforce-to-ServiceNow Migration Program

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $228.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $188.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $226.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.92. 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 has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. 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 analysts expect that Salesforce will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 acquired 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $610,974,000. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $25,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.

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