Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2.4% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 2.4% on Wednesday, trading as low as $170.03 as investors reacted to mixed sentiment around the stock.
• Recent news was split between AI optimism and concerns: positive items included surging Agentforce ARR, the m3ter acquisition, and a larger reported Anthropic stake, while negative reports highlighted layoffs and AI competition pressure.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with several firms cutting price targets and one downgrade to neutral, even though the consensus rating is still “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $259.26.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $170.03 and last traded at $171.2210. 10,730,855 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 13,432,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.35.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce said its Agentforce ARR is surging, suggesting renewed growth momentum and improving demand for its AI products. The company also looks cheaper on valuation after a steep year-to-date selloff, which may attract value-oriented investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s acquisition of m3ter supports a shift toward usage-based AI pricing and could strengthen monetization of Agentforce and other AI offerings over time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg reported that Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic has risen to about $5 billion, highlighting the company’s exposure to a leading AI startup and reinforcing its strategic AI positioning. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce presented at the Mizuho Technology Conference, but no major new financial guidance or product surprise was highlighted in the article summary. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports pointed to layoffs, which can signal cost pressure or slower-than-expected productivity gains from AI initiatives, even if the cuts are intended to improve efficiency. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Articles about AI competition pressuring CRM and the stock sliding despite an earnings beat suggest investors remain concerned about Salesforce’s ability to convert AI momentum into sustained share-price recovery. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $259.26.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $140.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 270,913 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $13,286,909,000 after acquiring an additional 659,573 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 47,189,352 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 791,345 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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