Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $278.12.

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. DA Davidson set a $225.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 6.1% during the third quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC now owns 7,867 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. KWB Wealth purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,578 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Kintegral Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 32,073 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,377,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Hunter, an AI-powered outbound sales agent built on Agentforce. Integrations with ZoomInfo, Demandbase and DocuSign could increase adoption of Salesforce’s higher-value AI workflows and make the platform more embedded in customers’ sales and contracting processes. Salesforce unveils Hunter for AI-powered outbound sales
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reportedly upgraded Salesforce in a rare double upgrade, citing improving confidence in the company’s AI strategy, including a small AI acquisition and changes to AI-product pricing. The upgrade supports the view that monetization could improve as customers move to premium offerings. Salesforce received a rare double upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: The Loops AI acquisition and new Agentforce capabilities reinforce Salesforce’s effort to turn AI into a growth driver, although investors will need evidence of meaningful revenue acceleration. Salesforce buys the Loops AI platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor interest in CRM has risen sharply, with Salesforce appearing among heavily searched stocks. This may increase visibility but is not, by itself, a fundamental catalyst. Investors heavily search Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Enterprise-software shares are falling as worries spread that aggressive AI infrastructure and financing commitments may not generate sufficient returns. Salesforce is being pulled lower alongside other AI-linked software leaders. Enterprise software stocks fall as AI financing worries spread
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are comparing Salesforce’s premium-edition price increases with Adobe’s more user-friendly pricing approach, raising concerns that Salesforce’s AI monetization strategy could pressure customer upgrades or retention. Adobe versus Salesforce for AI software growth

Salesforce Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $5.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $241.00. 8,338,232 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,674,550. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $198.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $231.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.82. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.