Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 3.1% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was up 3.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $234.63 and last traded at $233.7490. Approximately 9,656,058 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 7,726,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Northland Securities cut shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $264.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Twenty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $222.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $244.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $255.57.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.19, for a total value of $558,427.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,956,332,806.49. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,622 shares of company stock valued at $14,501,123. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 11.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 1,143 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 23.0% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.