Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 3.7% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Salesforce shares fell about 3.7% intraday to roughly $176.18 on higher-than-normal volume, after previously closing at $182.96.
• Several analysts cut price targets (e.g., Oppenheimer, Mizuho, Jefferies), but the consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $280.21.
• The company beat quarterly estimates (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05 expected), set FY‑2027 guidance, and announced a $25 billion share buyback plus a raised quarterly dividend to $0.44, while insiders made recent purchases.

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $175.78 and last traded at $176.1830. Approximately 13,282,251 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 12,805,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Mizuho cut their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $162.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's 50 day moving average is $192.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $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. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after purchasing an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 924.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,028,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,504,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

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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