BTIG Research Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $260.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target cut by BTIG Research from $335.00 to $260.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

CRM has been the subject of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.89.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1%

Salesforce stock opened at $185.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $180.24 and a fifty-two week high of $318.97.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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 period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 3.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho keeps an Outperform rating on CRM, signaling continued analyst conviction that Salesforce can outperform peers as AI adoption supports growth. Mizuho Maintains an Outperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha upgrade frames the upcoming Q4 print as an opportunity to “silence the bears,” highlighting potential revenue acceleration, expanding backlog and clearer AI-driven sales/expense dynamics that could re-rate the stock if delivered. Salesforce: Q4 Earnings Is An Opportunity To Silence The Bears (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Sector evidence: beaten-down software names (RingCentral, Five9) rallied after earnings that showed AI strengthening bookings — a sign that positive AI proofs could lift Salesforce if its own AI products (Agentforce, generative solutions) show similar commercial traction. Beaten-down software stocks RingCentral and Five9 rally as earnings quell some AI concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks previews the Q4 print and urges focus beyond headline EPS/revenue — metrics like backlog, billings mix and AI subscription uptake will matter, making the upcoming report a data-driven catalyst rather than a simple beat/miss story. Salesforce (CRM) Q4 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets note elevated investor attention and mixed analyst views — increased coverage raises volatility around the earnings print but doesn’t resolve direction until results and guidance arrive. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: BMO cut its price target from $275 to $235 (still “Outperform”), which reduces upside expectations and signals more cautious near-term valuation assumptions. salesforce.com (CRM) PT Lowered to $235 at BMO Capital
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG trimmed its price target to $260, and RBC moved to a Hold — more downward pressure from sell-side revisions that can sap momentum ahead of the quarter. BTIG Research Lowers Salesforce Price Target to $260 Salesforce (CRM) Receives a Hold from RBC Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying was recorded (roughly 132k puts), indicating elevated hedging or bearish spec positions that increase downside risk and implied volatility into earnings. (reported trading flow)

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.