Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 4.9% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell 4.9% on Wednesday, trading as low as $189.73 and ending near $190.96, below the prior close of $200.84.
• Fundamental performance remains solid: the latest quarter showed EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year, while the company also raised guidance for FY2027.
• Investor sentiment is mixed as analysts split between bullish and cautious views, with several price-target cuts and an average target of $257.97 still above the current share price; Salesforce is also backing shareholder returns with a $0.44 quarterly dividend and a $25 billion buyback authorization.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) traded down 4.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $189.73 and last traded at $190.9580. 13,753,011 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 13,449,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.84.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce ARR topping $1 billion signals strong adoption of Salesforce’s AI products and supports the bull case for faster future growth. Salesforce's Agentforce ARR Tops $1B: Can It Fuel More Growth for CRM?
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage around Salesforce’s AI investments and Contentful acquisition suggests the company is expanding its platform and potentially improving long-term competitiveness. Salesforce AI Push With Anthropic And Contentful Meets Undervalued Share Price
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and commentary pieces point to a possible continued catch-up rally, helped by expectations for a rebound in bookings in the second half. Salesforce: Catch-Up Rally Will Continue; Bookings Rebound Expected In H2
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles discuss valuation and whether the recent move is justified, suggesting the market is still debating how much upside is already priced in. Is There Now an Opportunity in Salesforce (CRM) After Recent Share Price Volatility
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst notes remain cautious, including reduced price targets and commentary about potential near-term downside, which may be limiting the stock’s advance. DA Davidson Cuts PT on Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) Following Q1 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Technical-focused coverage warned that the shares may be running into resistance, raising the possibility of short-term consolidation after the recent rally. Is This The Top For Salesforce?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $281.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $257.97.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $181.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $156.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after acquiring an additional 10,636,161 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after acquiring an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 924.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,028,807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504,605 shares during the last quarter. 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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