Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 3.9% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 3.9% on Wednesday, trading as low as $162.21 and below the prior close of $170.06, with volume running below average.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leaning cautious: Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $185 and downgraded the stock, while the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average target of $249.51.
• Despite the pullback, Salesforce recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and posted 13.3% year-over-year revenue growth, while investors continue to weigh AI-related growth opportunities against disruption risks.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $162.21 and last traded at $163.3660. Approximately 11,995,511 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 13,845,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.06.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still argue Salesforce is undervalued relative to its AI strategy, lower valuation, and earnings profile, which could support a rebound if growth re-accelerates.
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce continues to attract investor attention, and some commentary says its faster AI growth and lower valuation give it an edge versus peers like Adobe. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce is still seeing positive product and business headlines, including the U.S. Air Force adopting its Missionforce platform for fleet management, which could reinforce its credibility in mission-critical enterprise software. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage suggests the stock may have long-term upside from current levels, but the market is still waiting for clearer evidence of a growth inflection before rewarding the shares more meaningfully.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut Salesforce’s price target from $287 to $185 and downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal Weight, signaling less confidence in near-term upside. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A second rating downgrade this month added to concerns that Salesforce may lack a strong growth catalyst, with one analyst saying the risk/reward looks balanced rather than compelling.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor worries about AI disruption are growing, including reports that companies are replacing expensive Salesforce contracts with AI-built CRM tools and that new AI-native competitors could challenge Slack and other Salesforce offerings.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Susquehanna assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company's 50 day moving average price is $170.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.35. 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 company has a market cap of $133.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid 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 payout ratio is 20.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 4,239 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 6,186 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Financial Group LTD boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 2,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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