Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was down 2.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $260.41 and last traded at $260.5410. Approximately 5,234,313 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 6,635,604 shares. The stock had previously closed at $266.12.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlighted five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM for 2026, arguing Salesforce has an attractive AI/cloud runway that could make it a top trade this year. MarketBeat: Five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM
• Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool and 247WallStreet pieces both profile Salesforce as underappreciated on AI upside — suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in its “agentic AI” roadmap or potential enterprise expansion. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case. Fool: Should you forget Palantir and buy these 2 tech stocks? 247WallSt: 2 Stocks That Don’t Have Enough AI Priced In
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — AmericanBankingNews reports an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” That supports investor confidence despite recent weakness. Salesforce receives average recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer has Salesforce on his radar, drawing attention to the company amid sector turmoil; coverage like this can add visibility but is not a direct catalyst. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Business
• Neutral Sentiment: The Globe and Mail highlighted a Zacks feature that mentions Salesforce alongside Adobe as notable ideas — more media/analyst attention that reinforces the stock’s profile. Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Adobe and Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance flags that Salesforce’s AI revenue base is still small and that rising API costs could pressure margins — that raises the risk that the company’s margin story may be weaker than investors expect. Did Salesforce’s Small AI Revenue Base and Higher API Costs Just Recast Its Margin Story?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets emphasize CRM’s ~18–20% drop over the past year — headline pieces questioning whether the stock is still a hold add selling pressure and keep sentiment cautious. Salesforce Plunges 20% in a Year
• Negative Sentiment: Short news blurbs (MSN/headlines) noting that CRM is sinking while broader markets gain amplify the perception of underperformance versus peers. Salesforce.com (CRM) stock sinks as market gains

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.74.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $243.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $250.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.68.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 155,034 shares of company stock valued at $36,726,584 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Scott & Selber Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the second quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 5,850 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 607 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the second quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.