Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Jumps 1.8% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 1.8% in Wednesday mid-day trading to about $217.35, while trading volume was 52% below its daily average.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $278.98; recent firms raised targets and reiterated positive ratings.
• In its latest reported quarter, Salesforce earned $5.90 per share, beating the $3.27 estimate, and revenue grew 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $218.23 and last traded at $217.3520. 6,187,291 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 13,012,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 target price (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $237.80 and its 200 day moving average is $198.53. The stock has a market cap of $178.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. 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, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,410,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. increased its position in Salesforce by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 10,084 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 51.4% during the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 739 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 454.8% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,702 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 2,215 shares during the period. Finally, Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc. is a cloud-based software company best known for customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Its platform helps businesses manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce and customer data, and includes products such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud and Agentforce. The company also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data analytics and visualization, and MuleSoft for connecting applications and data. Salesforce's products are used by organizations across a range of industries and are available to customers around the world.

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