Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with 25 buy, 13 hold, and 1 sell ratings.
• CEO Marc Benioff recently sold 2,250 shares of stock valued at approximately $582,772, lowering his ownership slightly but still retaining a significant stake valued over $3 billion.
• The company reported Q3 earnings of $2.91 per share, exceeding expectations, alongside a revenue of $10.24 billion, marking a 9.8% increase year-over-year.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation and twenty-five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $325.2286.

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.01, for a total transaction of $582,772.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,085,216,004.71. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,424,880 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 1,850 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.6% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,205 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tema Etfs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,198,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $254.93 on Friday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $246.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

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