Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 4.9% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares rose 4.9% on Monday, trading as high as $172.76 after closing at $163.32, though volume was slightly below average.
• Recent analyst activity was mixed but still leans positive: several firms cut price targets, while HSBC raised its target and Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock; overall, Salesforce holds a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $254.42 target price.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $3.88 EPS on $11.13 billion in revenue, and it also pays a quarterly dividend and has authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) was up 4.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $172.76 and last traded at $171.39. Approximately 12,894,921 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 13,888,729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. HSBC boosted their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Macquarie Infrastructure reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.42.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $171.89 and a 200-day moving average of $194.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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