Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 2.3% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 2.3% in mid-day trading, reaching as high as $183.35, amid above-average investor activity despite lower-than-normal volume versus its recent average.
• Recent news has been broadly positive, including an expanded AI-focused collaboration with Cint through Slack and commentary from analysts/media suggesting Salesforce could benefit from ongoing digital transformation and generative AI adoption.
• Sentiment is still mixed ahead of earnings: some analysts see significant upside and maintain bullish ratings, but others remain cautious, with UBS pointing to a tough enterprise software spending backdrop and Bank of America reiterating an Underperform rating with a $160 target.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) shares traded up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $183.35 and last traded at $180.3240. 9,983,644 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 12,885,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.31.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced an expanded collaboration with Cint to deliver next-generation AI-powered support through Slack, reinforcing the company’s push into agentic enterprise workflows and AI-driven automation. Cint and Salesforce to Deliver the Next Generation of AI-Powered Support
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst- and media-driven pieces highlighted Salesforce as an attractive AI and software value play, with commentary pointing to strong upside potential and expectations that Q1 results may benefit from continued digital transformation and generative AI adoption. Salesforce Likely to Beat Q1 Earnings Estimates: Time to Buy the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street price-target articles continue to suggest meaningful upside for CRM, with analysts’ average target implying a large gain from current levels and some firms still keeping bullish ratings. Does Salesforce (CRM) Have the Potential to Rally 53.21% as Wall Street Analysts Expect?
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce granted 64,296 RSUs to 27 employees tied to the Cimulate acquisition; this is routine retention-related equity compensation and is not likely to materially move the stock on its own. Salesforce Grants Equity Awards to Cimulate Under Its Inducement Equity Incentive Plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on Salesforce’s upcoming earnings release and expected post-earnings volatility, which adds uncertainty but no clear directional catalyst yet. Here's How Much Traders Expect Salesforce Stock Could Move After Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: UBS flagged a mixed enterprise software spending backdrop and said it sees limited signs of near-term acceleration in bookings, which may be weighing on sentiment into earnings. Salesforce faces tough enterprise software backdrop heading into earnings, says UBS
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated an Underperform rating with a $160 target, signaling that some analysts remain cautious on the stock despite Salesforce’s strong market position. BofA Maintains Underperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM)

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $188.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.12.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $147.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $182.53 and a 200 day moving average of $213.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% 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

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 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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