Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 2% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 2% to about $184.34 in Friday trading, although volume was roughly 39% below the stock’s average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $249.51; ratings include 24 Buys, two Strong Buys, 16 Holds and four Sells.
• Salesforce recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.88 in EPS and $11.13 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 13.3% year over year. The company also declared a $0.44-per-share quarterly dividend, representing a 1.0% yield.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $184.45 and last traded at $184.3430. 8,398,615 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 13,830,417 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $150.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.18. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $170.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 20.37%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 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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