Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Falls 2.7% – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) dropped 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $240.63 and last traded at $240.8250. Approximately 7,456,552 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 13,329,114 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.61.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce supports the AI growth narrative. Salesforce’s Agentforce generative-AI platform is strengthening the company’s artificial-intelligence positioning and could provide a new source of recurring revenue as customers adopt AI-powered service and sales tools. Agentforce Growth Strengthens Salesforce’s Generative AI Narrative
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and quantitative screens remain constructive. Zacks highlighted Salesforce as a highly ranked growth stock, while its average brokerage recommendation remains favorable. Another report argued that CRM looks inexpensive relative to its earnings power, potentially supporting the shares if Salesforce sustains earnings growth. Salesforce Is a Top-Ranked Growth Stock
• Positive Sentiment: The Braze acquisition adds strategic potential. Salesforce’s planned $5.66 billion purchase of customer-engagement software provider Braze could broaden its marketing and engagement capabilities, although investors will monitor the deal’s integration and returns. Stocktwits M&A Watch
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce remains a prominent technology stock. Comparisons with IBM emphasize CRM’s leadership in customer-relationship management and broad AI integration, while increased investor attention may improve visibility but does not itself change fundamentals. Salesforce vs. IBM
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking is weighing on sentiment. Burke Wealth Management sold its Salesforce position after a roughly 20% post-earnings rally, signaling that some investors view the recent rebound as an opportunity to lock in gains rather than chase the stock higher. Why Burke Wealth Sold Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Execution risks remain. Commentary from Japan-focused Salesforce partners warned against the platform becoming primarily a “record-keeper,” highlighting the need for customers to achieve measurable sales-process improvements. This underscores concerns about adoption, competition, and whether AI investments translate into durable growth. Sales Model Reform

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Bank of America raised Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $315.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $235.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Busey Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Busey Bank now owns 28,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 85,278 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $19,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 499,656 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $114,706,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 24.6% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,104 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.