Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Climb 1.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 1.3% to about $227.58 on Thursday, though trading volume was 61% below the daily average.
• Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating and $275 price target after a survey found that 85% of customers had tried Agentforce, but noted that stronger demand acceleration has yet to emerge.
• Investor sentiment is supported by Salesforce’s 8.2% free-cash-flow yield, institutional accumulation and improving AI optimism, while competitive pressure from ServiceNow and the need to prove Agentforce is driving new demand remain key risks.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares rose 1.3% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $227.95 and last traded at $227.5750. 5,409,562 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 13,729,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.56.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating and $275 price target after a Dreamforce survey found that 85% of Salesforce customers had tried Agentforce. The survey suggests healthy customer spending and broad AI engagement, although the firm noted that stronger demand acceleration has not yet been demonstrated. 85% of Salesforce Customers Have Tried AgentForce. Oppenheimer Says One Thing Is Missing
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce named fraud-prevention company Forter as a launch partner for Storefront Next and expanded Forter’s tools into Loyalty Management. The partnership strengthens Salesforce’s commerce-security offering and supports the company’s push to grow its commerce platform. Salesforce Names a Launch Partner for Storefront Next
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s free-cash-flow yield is estimated at 8.2% of its market value, well above the S&P 500 median of 4.5%. That supports the view that CRM is attractively valued and has financial flexibility for buybacks, investment or other shareholder returns. Should You Buy Salesforce Stock for Its Cash?
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary points to institutional accumulation and improving momentum in Salesforce as fears that AI will make enterprise software obsolete have eased. Analysts and strategists see customer switching costs, Agentforce adoption and a depressed valuation as potential catalysts for a re-rating. Salesforce Turns the Corner as AI Fears Start to Fade
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer said he prefers Salesforce while discussing software-stock recoveries, providing favorable media visibility but not a fundamental change to earnings expectations. Jim Cramer Has Reservations About One of These Software Comebacks
• Negative Sentiment: Work4Flow launched a 90-day program to help enterprises migrate from Salesforce to ServiceNow CRM, including data, custom objects and business logic. The initiative highlights a competitive threat, although one program alone does not establish meaningful customer losses for Salesforce. Work4Flow Launches 90-Day Program to Accelerate Salesforce-to-ServiceNow CRM Migration
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce continues to trail the broader market, while relatively high leverage and the need to prove that Agentforce is driving new demand—not merely existing customer usage—could limit a valuation recovery. Investors will likely focus on renewals, deal sizes and revenue growth in the next earnings report. Salesforce Stock Falls 15% YTD: Should Investors Keep Holding CRM?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. DA Davidson set a $225.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. CLSA assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank cut Salesforce from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.14.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.3%

The firm's 50 day moving average is $224.73 and its 200 day moving average is $192.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $187.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce's revenue 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 analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be 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 is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABS Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $610,974,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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.

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