Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 4.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 4.2% on Friday to about $184 (intraday high $186.04) on roughly 12.3 million shares traded, slightly below average volume.
• Analysts have trimmed price targets at several firms, but consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $279.18.
• The company beat quarterly expectations (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05; revenue $11.20B), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44, initiated a $25 billion share buyback, and insiders recently bought shares.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares rose 4.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $186.04 and last traded at $183.9830. Approximately 12,312,297 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 13,037,053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $279.18.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $150.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $186.67 and a 200 day moving average of $220.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,145.6% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,085,000 after purchasing an additional 10,633 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the third quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $44,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $113,420,000 after purchasing an additional 61,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $66,610,000 after purchasing an additional 83,403 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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