Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 2.7% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 2.7% to about $191.02 in midday trading, though volume was 36% below the average session level.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $249.51 price target; recent firms raised targets as high as $280–$240, while Bank of America maintained an “underperform” rating with a $160 target.
• Salesforce exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $3.88 in EPS and $11.13 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 13.3% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 0.9% yield.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $191.29 and last traded at $191.02. 8,792,195 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 13,815,431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $228.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $156.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.16. The stock's fifty day moving average is $170.46 and its 200-day moving average is $184.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $684,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,780,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,072,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $13,946,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently 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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