Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 5.3% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price dropped 5.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $234.48 and last traded at $239.27. Approximately 10,975,922 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 7,777,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Barclays cut their target price on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Twenty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $228.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $247.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 74,372 shares of company stock worth $18,317,866 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Hemenway Trust Co LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 51,030 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,094,000 after buying an additional 3,311 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.7% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 716,041 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $169,702,000 after acquiring an additional 38,804 shares during the last quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,698 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. now owns 4,638 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.