Salesforce's (CRM) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research reaffirmed a buy rating on Salesforce (CRM) with a $255 price target, implying roughly a 40.6% upside from the prior close.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.81 EPS versus $3.05 consensus and $11.20B in revenue (up 12.1% YoY), and provided FY2027 EPS guidance of 13.110–13.190 and Q1 guidance of 3.110–3.130.
• The company’s board authorized a $25 billion share buyback program, enabling repurchase of up to about 14.1% of outstanding shares.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by BTIG Research in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $255.00 target price on the CRM provider's stock. BTIG Research's target price indicates a potential upside of 40.59% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.18.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.1%

Salesforce stock opened at $181.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $296.05. The stock's fifty day moving average is $188.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.57.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $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.

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