Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock Has Average Price Target of $278.98

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Salesforce has a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 51 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $278.98.
• Recent results beat earnings expectations: Salesforce reported EPS of $5.90 versus a $3.27 consensus and revenue of $11.35 billion, up 10.8% year over year.
• AI acquisitions bring both opportunity and execution concerns: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta to expand its customer-service offerings, but reports of sizable acquisition spending have raised questions about integration and returns.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, thirty-two have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $278.98.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $266,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,215 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $9,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in Salesforce by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 765,663 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $176,415,000 after purchasing an additional 266,304 shares during the last quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 152.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 8,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 9,088 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta, adding technology aimed at customer-service operations and strengthening its AI offerings. The deal supports the company’s push to monetize AI, though its price and expected financial contribution are not detailed in the announcement. Salesforce announces Cresta acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: A comparison of recent quarterly revenue trends says Salesforce has delivered steadier, more consistent expansion than IBM, a positive signal for the predictability of its business. Salesforce versus IBM revenue comparison
• Negative Sentiment: The Cresta agreement is reportedly Salesforce’s fifth major acquisition this year, and coverage highlighted concerns about the roughly $2.7 billion AI deal and the company’s ability to integrate a growing number of purchases. That raises questions about spending and execution even as the acquisitions broaden its AI capabilities. Report on Salesforce’s AI acquisition spending
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce filed a shelf registration covering 609,118 shares, valued at about $139.6 million, for an employee stock ownership plan. The shares could create some dilution and add to investor sensitivity around stock-based compensation, though this is not necessarily a broad public offering. Salesforce share registration report

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $221.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock's fifty day moving average is $239.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business 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 company earned $2.91 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company's products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.