Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Salesforce's share price opened at $253.19, a notable increase from a previous close of $236.58, with a trading volume of over 7.86 million shares.
• Wall Street analysts have differing opinions on Salesforce, with an average price target of $326.83; Needham & Company maintains a "buy" rating with a target of $400.00, while BMO Capital Markets has reduced their target to $280.00.
• The company posted earnings of $2.91 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and reporting a revenue increase of 9.8% year-over-year.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $236.58, but opened at $253.19. Salesforce shares last traded at $252.30, with a volume of 7,863,160 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Northland Securities downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $264.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $326.83.

Salesforce Stock Up 4.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm's fifty day moving average is $244.22 and its 200-day moving average is $258.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.92, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.91, for a total value of $553,297.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,929,174,424.61. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,572,233. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $685,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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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