Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 1.7% on Tuesday, trading as low as $160.50 amid heavier-than-usual volume. The stock last changed hands around $161.74, down from the prior close of $164.55.
• Investor attention was buoyed by Salesforce’s $3.6 billion acquisition of AI customer-service platform Fin, which is meant to bolster its Agentforce and broader AI strategy. Analysts said the deal could help Salesforce gain traction in the fast-growing autonomous customer support market.
• Despite the pullback, Wall Street remains broadly constructive: multiple firms reiterated Buy ratings, and Salesforce reported strong recent results with Q1 EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion. The company also highlighted a $25 billion buyback authorization and a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 1.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $160.50 and last traded at $161.7430. Approximately 15,568,676 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 13,448,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.55.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to buy AI customer-service platform Fin for about $3.6 billion, a move designed to strengthen its Agentforce and broader agentic AI strategy. Investors appear to view the deal as a faster path to capturing demand in autonomous customer support. Reuters: Salesforce to buy Fin for about $3.6 billion
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish voices said the acquisition shows Salesforce is moving more aggressively than expected to secure the AI agent market, which could improve long-term growth and competitive positioning. Proactive Investors: Salesforce bets $3.6B on Fin as Wedbush sees M&A strategy paying off
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reaffirmed Buy ratings, including Canaccord with a $225 target and Cantor Fitzgerald with a $250 target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Yahoo Finance: Analyst believes Salesforce stock is trading at a 52% discount
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlighting Salesforce’s record cash generation, rising margins, and a $50 billion buyback plan suggests the company has room to reward shareholders while still funding growth investments. Yahoo Finance: Can CRM's Record Cash Generation Support Robust Shareholder Returns?
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent coverage argues Salesforce’s acquisition spree has weighed on the stock over time, with concerns that growth has not fully offset the cost of buying capabilities instead of building them internally. Invezz: Salesforce stock wipeout hits $212 billion as acquisition spree backfires

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. 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, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.26.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.26. The company has a market cap of $132.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after buying an additional 47,189,352 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Salesforce by 13.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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