Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Declares Share Repurchase Program

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded up $5.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $198.13. 13,104,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,804,150. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.58. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $174.57 and a 52-week high of $296.05. The company has a market capitalization of $182.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29. 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) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce commenced a historic $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), delivering ~103 million shares as the initial prepayment — the company says this is the largest-ever ASR and represents immediate execution of half of a $50 billion aggregate repurchase authorization. This reduces float and signals management confidence. Salesforce Commences Largest-Ever $25 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase — BusinessWire
• Positive Sentiment: The Board authorized a $25 billion share-repurchase plan (up to ~14.1% of shares) via open-market purchases, reinforcing the buyback commitment and suggesting the board views the shares as undervalued. RTT News — Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets flagged the ASR launch and framed it as the largest in history, which drew buying interest and headlines boosting sentiment around Salesforce’s AI-led growth strategy paired with a large capital-return program. Salesforce commences $25B share buyback amid AI growth focus — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Independent coverage reports the stock climbed on the historic $25B ASR launch, amplifying momentum from the buyback news. Blockonomi — Salesforce Stock Climbs on Historic $25B ASR
• Positive Sentiment: Notable value investors showed interest in recent quarters, with coverage noting portfolio purchases (e.g., Bill Nygren) that can lend credibility to the long case. 247WallSt — Bill Nygren Bought These Value Gems
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and retail interest pieces note heavy search and discussion around CRM and summarize bullish theses from forums and retail research — useful for gauging retail momentum but not a direct catalyst. Zacks — Investors Heavily Search Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces recap bullish value arguments and forum-based theses on whether CRM is a buy; these provide context but largely echo the buyback and AI-growth story. Yahoo Finance — Is Salesforce A Good Stock To Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan published an options-focused piece outlining trading strategies around geopolitical uncertainty (Iran) that references CRM as an options play; this is tactical market commentary rather than fundamental company news. Seeking Alpha — J.P. Morgan Options Play

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.