Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 7.1% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded down 7.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $240.36 and last traded at $240.9530. 13,548,798 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 90% from the average session volume of 7,131,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $335.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.50.

Salesforce Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $225.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $250.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 152,784 shares of company stock worth $36,173,287 in the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 12,091 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,203,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the period. CMH Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. CMH Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,208 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,868,000 after acquiring an additional 10,102 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. now owns 968 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Sendero Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,963 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the period. 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.