Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 2.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Salesforce's stock price rose by 2.3% during trading, reaching a high of $250.47 and closing at $245.85, with trading volume increasing by 80% compared to the average.
• An array of analysts have set mixed price targets for Salesforce, with Morgan Stanley increasing its target to $405.00, while Deutsche Bank lowered it to $340.00.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $2.91, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $10.24 billion, marking a 9.8% year-over-year increase.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 2.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $250.47 and last traded at $245.85. 13,795,462 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 80% from the average session volume of 7,658,970 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.58.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $234.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $246.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.80.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.94, for a total transaction of $566,865.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,001,001,197.74. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,747,868. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.3% in the third quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 111.9% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 178 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 49.1% during the third quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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