Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 3.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 3.7% on Thursday, closing at $156.97 after trading as low as $155.15, with volume below its recent average.
• Analyst sentiment turned more cautious, as Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight and sharply cut its price target, citing weaker near-term upside expectations.
• Despite the selloff, Salesforce’s fundamentals remain solid: its last earnings beat estimates, revenue rose 13.3% year over year, and the stock still carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target price of $249.51.

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) fell 3.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $155.15 and last traded at $156.9660. 11,832,164 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 13,832,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.00.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New partnership and product coverage could help reinforce Salesforce’s AI and platform strategy: Navatar launched a Claude-native deal engine built on Salesforce CRM and Agentforce for private equity and M&A advisory firms, highlighting continued ecosystem adoption. Navatar Launches Claude-Native Deal Engine for Private Equity and M&A Advisory Firms on Salesforce CRM
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce was included in a market commentary on liquid stocks and another article noted CRM and other software names are trying to rebound after a tough 2026, but these pieces were mostly broad sector commentary rather than company-specific catalysts. 4 Top-Performing Liquid Stocks to Boost Portfolio Returns CRM, WDAY, TEAM Bounce Back: Can Momentum Continue?
• Neutral Sentiment: Montaka Global published a bullish-looking investor letter discussing Salesforce’s “compelling outlook,” which may support the long-term thesis, though it is not a direct operating update. Key Catalysts Behind Salesforce’s (CRM) Compelling Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley downgraded Salesforce from Overweight to Equal Weight and cut its price target sharply, signaling weaker near-term upside expectations. Salesforce NYSE: CRM Earns "Equal Weight" Rating from Morgan Stanley Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey is Making a New Slack — Should Salesforce Investors Be Worried? Salesforce (CRM) As Downgrades Test The Case For An Undervalued AI Pivot CRM Stock Snags Second Rating Downgrade This Month – Analyst Says Risk/Reward On Salesforce Balanced In Absence Of Notable Growth Inflection Morgan Stanley Slashes Salesforce Price Target By 35%

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research note on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, June 12th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $228.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.51.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $128.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.64.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 683,790 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $181,143,000 after purchasing an additional 24,332 shares in the last quarter. SFE Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 17,394 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,608,000 after acquiring an additional 7,871 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $997,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $142,521,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

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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