Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Salesforce's stock rating has been downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by Wall Street Zen, amidst reports from other analysts revising their price targets downwards.
• Salesforce reported a Q3 earnings per share of $2.91, exceeding estimates of $2.78, alongside a revenue increase of 9.8% year-over-year, reaching $10.24 billion.
• Insider activity includes Director David Blair Kirk purchasing 3,400 shares, reflecting an 801.89% increase in his ownership, while CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares for $531,855.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. DA Davidson raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.37 on Friday, hitting $240.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,847,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,021,321. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $246.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $260.32. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $228.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Salesforce's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total transaction of $531,855.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,657,152.98. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 81,000 shares of company stock worth $20,357,213 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morangie Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morangie Management LLC now owns 6,621 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,047 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC now owns 5,349 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,494,000. Finally, Park National Corp OH lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 129,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,620,000 after purchasing an additional 14,666 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.