Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 21,903,394 shares, a growth of 14.8% from the February 12th total of 19,084,122 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,543,626 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,543,626 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $194.47 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $179.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $174.57 and a 1 year high of $296.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $206.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.88.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 17 Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% during the second quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Code Waechter LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% during the third quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.21.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $25 billion share repurchase program and initiated an accelerated buyback, signaling management confidence and likely near‑term support for the stock. Stock Buyback Plan Initiated by Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Strong product momentum from Agentic AI, Agentforce and Data Cloud is driving higher bookings and revenue growth prospects — a core reason bulls expect reacceleration in CRM’s top line. Salesforce’s Agentic AI Push
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with NVIDIA to embed AI agents into workflows strengthens Salesforce’s go‑to‑market for AI features and could accelerate adoption across enterprise customers. Salesforce Teams with NVIDIA
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains mixed-to-supportive: some firms reiterated buy ratings on the capital allocation strategy, but views differ on risk/reward given the new leverage. Buy Rating on Capital Allocation
• Neutral Sentiment: Third‑party comparisons and coverage pieces (e.g., head‑to‑head with smaller rivals) are airing but aren’t driving material moves relative to the buyback/debt story. Unitronix vs Salesforce Comparison
• Negative Sentiment: The $25 billion accelerated share repurchase and $6 billion term loan are largely debt‑funded (multi‑tranche senior notes and refinancing), materially changing Salesforce’s capital structure and raising concerns about leverage, interest expense and long‑dated maturities. That shift is the main near‑term bearish catalyst. Bull Case Could Change After Debt-Funded Buyback

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.