Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Short Interest Up 14.8% in February

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 21,903,394 shares, a growth of 14.8% from the February 12th total of 19,084,122 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 15,543,626 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,543,626 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE CRM traded down $2.96 on Tuesday, hitting $195.38. The stock had a trading volume of 5,261,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,690,205. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $174.57 and a 52-week high of $296.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $209.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $180.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.25%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $25 billion open‑market buyback (up to ~14.1% of shares) — signals management thinks shares are undervalued and supports EPS. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce has commenced the largest‑ever $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (initial delivery of ~103M shares), representing immediate execution of half of its $50B program — provides near‑term demand for shares and EPS accretion. Business Wire: Salesforce Commences Largest‑Ever $25B ASR
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reaffirmed a Buy rating and $280 target citing the company’s capital‑allocation strategy; coverage notes Salesforce may raise debt to fund repurchases (analyst confidence can attract investors). InsiderMonkey: Salesforce Gets Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Value manager Bill Nygren reportedly added CRM to his portfolio last quarter — institutional buying adds validation to the buy thesis. 247 Wall St: Bill Nygren Buys
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and op‑ed pieces review Salesforce’s strategy to “double down” on AI and prioritize revenue growth vs. margin tradeoffs — useful context but not an immediate catalyst. Seeking Alpha: Doubling Down
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes tactical options plays and trading strategies around geopolitical uncertainty — mostly relevant to derivatives traders rather than long‑term fundamentals. Seeking Alpha: J.P. Morgan Options Play
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say Salesforce may raise up to $25 billion of debt to fund repurchases — while leverage remains low today, large debt issuance can concern some investors about future interest costs and capital structure risk. InsiderMonkey: Debt Offering Report

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. 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 note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,286,909,000 after buying an additional 659,573 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its stake in Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after acquiring an additional 47,189,352 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,751,073,000 after acquiring an additional 791,345 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.