Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 3% to about $236.52, supported by optimism around its AI strategy, including the planned acquisition of Listen Labs and expanded AI governance partnerships.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a $275.14 price target, although some investors warn that AI monetization may take time and upcoming earnings could increase volatility.
• Salesforce recently exceeded earnings expectations, reporting $5.90 in quarterly EPS versus a $3.27 consensus estimate and 10.8% year-over-year revenue growth; it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 3% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $239.45 and last traded at $236.5210. Approximately 9,560,184 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 13,908,743 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.57.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Listen Labs, an AI-powered customer research and human-simulation platform. Listen Labs’ agents can design studies, conduct research and synthesize customer insights in days rather than months, potentially strengthening Salesforce’s AI product portfolio and supporting demand for its enterprise platform. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Listen Labs
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is broadening AI governance across its ecosystem. Stensul launched a beta integration with Marketing Cloud Next that adds structured controls for personalized AI-generated content, while June AI joined Salesforce’s AgentExchange partner community. These developments may help CRM address enterprise compliance concerns and accelerate adoption of AI workflows. Salesforce Deepens AI Workflow Governance Across Its Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating after a customer survey, adding support to the view that Salesforce’s durable enterprise software franchise and embedded customer relationships can provide a foundation for long-term AI monetization. Salesforce in Focus as Oppenheimer Reiterates Outperform Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce is being discussed as an AI stock rebuilding after a substantial pullback. Its established customer base and workflow integration may represent a competitive moat, but the company still needs sustained AI revenue growth to justify renewed investor enthusiasm. AI Stocks Rebuilding After Brutal Pullbacks
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors caution that CRM has already gained substantially in recent months, increasing the pressure on upcoming earnings and AI execution. Concerns that the payoff from its AI strategy may take time could limit further upside or create volatility despite the favorable acquisition news. Salesforce Goes Headless in AI Push

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $275.14.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $219.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

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 purchased at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Cacti Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $14,436,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 43,398 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 4,618 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4,855.1% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 168,472 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $26,393,000 after purchasing an additional 165,072 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Wellington Altus USA Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 117.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 315 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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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