Sanford C. Bernstein Has Lowered Expectations for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $223.00 to $194.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.24% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.06.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $194.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.32. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $303.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.28%. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. 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, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 159.0% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 924.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,028,807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $933,737,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on profitability and AI traction — Non‑GAAP EPS came in at $3.81 (well above consensus) and management highlighted Agentforce/AI monetization as a growth driver, supporting the view that AI is adding commercial value. Revenue In Line With Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital‑return program — Salesforce raised its dividend and authorized a $50B buyback, signaling management confidence and improving EPS leverage if executed. That buyback is a clear near‑term support for the share price. AI Bet & Buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term targets updated — Management lifted multiyear ambitions (targeting roughly $63B revenue by FY2030) and kept FY27 EPS guidance in a tight range; this supports the long‑term bull case but leaves near‑term pacing ambiguous. FY30 Target & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance and metrics disappointed some — cRPO and other cloud momentum measures were only in‑line, and commentary implied a mid‑year slowdown before AI‑driven reacceleration, which hurt investor confidence. Jefferies on Near‑Term Slowdown
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and mixed ratings — Several banks trimmed price targets (examples: Sanford Bernstein, TD Cowen, RBC, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson) or issued neutral/underperform stances, increasing short‑term selling pressure as models were reset. Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over AI impact persists — Coverage highlights that some investors still worry AI could compress SaaS economics despite management’s assurances, creating continued volatility in CRM shares. 3 Reasons Earnings Failed to Impress

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.