Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 2.1% in Tuesday trading, reaching an intraday low of $161.47 before last trading at $167.55, below the prior close of $171.22.
• Recent analyst updates were mixed: Evercore kept an outperform rating, while several firms lowered price targets, though Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to buy. Overall, Salesforce still has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $254.42.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 estimated and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year. Salesforce also continues returning capital through a quarterly dividend and a $25 billion share repurchase program.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 2.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $161.47 and last traded at $167.5520. 13,414,961 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 13,901,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $254.42.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $171.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $193.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior 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, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors 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 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 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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