Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.7% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 2.7% to about $195.86, despite generally positive analyst sentiment. The consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $249.05.
• JPMorgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $250 target, while Monness raised its target to $222; planned $27.1 billion share repurchases and growing Agentforce adoption are viewed as potential catalysts.
• Risks include UBS’s expectation that revenue acceleration may be slower than anticipated and concerns about AI competition and substitute technologies. Salesforce’s latest quarter nevertheless beat estimates, with revenue rising 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares fell 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $195.32 and last traded at $195.8590. 8,229,490 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 13,679,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.37.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $250 price target, citing potential acceleration in Salesforce’s core business during the second half of the year. The target implies substantial appreciation from recent levels. JPMorgan turns bullish on Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Monness Crespi & Hardt raised its price target to $222 from $200 and maintained a Buy rating, adding to the improving analyst sentiment around CRM. Monness raises Salesforce price target
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s planned $27.1 billion share-repurchase program could support earnings-per-share growth and provides valuation support, particularly as SaaS-sector sentiment improves. Salesforce buyback boost
• Positive Sentiment: Rising Agentforce adoption is positioning Salesforce as a significant enterprise “agentic AI” competitor to Microsoft and Oracle, potentially creating a new growth avenue from its large CRM customer base. Salesforce agentic AI strategy
• Negative Sentiment: UBS reportedly expects Salesforce to temper expectations for second-half revenue acceleration, reinforcing investor concerns that AI-related growth may take longer to appear in reported results. UBS on Salesforce revenue growth
• Negative Sentiment: Investor commentary continues to highlight substitute technologies and shifting AI opportunities as threats to Salesforce’s competitive position. A fund letter also indicated that Salesforce had lost favor amid these concerns. Salesforce faces substitute technology threats

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (down from $287.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial cut Salesforce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.05.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.19. The stock has a market cap of $160.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is 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.

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