Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Receives Underperform Rating from Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America reiterated an underperform rating on Salesforce and set a $160 price target, implying about 7.9% downside from the current share price.
• Other analysts have also been trimming targets on CRM, though the stock still carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $274.56.
• Salesforce reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, and the board approved a $25 billion share repurchase program that could buy back up to 14.1% of the stock.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Bank of America in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $160.00 price target on the CRM provider's stock. Bank of America's target price would indicate a potential downside of 7.93% from the company's current price.

CRM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $274.56.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2%

CRM stock opened at $173.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $142.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.37. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $292.17.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 3.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,781,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

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.