Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 2.3% – What’s Next?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $234.36 and last traded at $227.2190. Approximately 6,495,060 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 13,151,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.20.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Salesforce to Rank #1 (Strong Buy), citing improving earnings prospects—a potential near-term tailwind for the stock. Salesforce Moves to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI customer-service startup Cresta in a deal reported at about $2.7 billion. The purchase could expand its AI offerings and customer-service capabilities. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Cresta
• Neutral Sentiment: A report notes Salesforce shares have previously rebounded after falling at least 50% from a record high, gaining about 63% and 44% in the year following the two earlier episodes. The historical pattern may encourage long-term investors, but does not predict a repeat. What History Suggests After Salesforce’s Major Declines
• Negative Sentiment: The Cresta deal is Salesforce’s fifth major acquisition this year, raising concerns about the cost and complexity of integrating multiple purchases while the stock is under pressure. Salesforce’s AI Acquisition Spending
• Negative Sentiment: ETFs were net sellers of $15.2 million in Salesforce shares on Nov. 2, while a shelf registration for 609,118 shares tied to an employee stock ownership plan renewed attention to potential dilution. ETFs Are Net Sellers of Salesforce Salesforce Files Share Offering

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Barclays lowered Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Bank of America raised Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $285.00 in a report on Monday, October 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.72. The company has a market capitalization of $187.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. 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 expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $844,928,000. 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.