Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 4.4% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Salesforce stock rose 4.4% to $201.55 intraday on Thursday, with trading volume about 25% above the average after a prior close of $193.08.
• The company beat expectations with Q results of $3.81 EPS versus $3.05 expected and $11.20B revenue (up 12.1% YoY), and issued FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190 and Q1 2027 guidance of 3.110–3.130.
• Analysts have pared price targets recently (consensus target $283.14, rating "Moderate Buy"), while Salesforce raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 ($1.76 annualized, 0.9% yield) and a director disclosed a notable share purchase.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 4.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $204.42 and last traded at $201.55. 15,827,521 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 12,632,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.14.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $186.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.46.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business 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%.The company's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Salesforce

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.