Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 3.2% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares rose 3.2% to about $185 after Salesforce beat estimates with $3.81 EPS (vs. $3.05) and $11.2B revenue — revenue was up 12.1% year-over-year and the company provided FY2027 EPS guidance.
• The board authorized a $25 billion share repurchase (about 14.1% of shares) and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.44, underscoring a stronger focus on shareholder returns.
• Analysts' consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $280.21, though recent individual price targets have been revised lower and ratings are mixed.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 3.2% on Monday . The company traded as high as $186.39 and last traded at $185.0210. Approximately 11,513,838 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 12,800,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $170.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm's 50 day moving average is $198.40 and its 200-day moving average is $230.64.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,286,909,000 after purchasing an additional 659,573 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after buying an additional 2,669,891 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,751,073,000 after buying an additional 791,345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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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