Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target Cut to $265.00 by Analysts at Mizuho

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price lowered by Mizuho from $280.00 to $265.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 33.80% from the stock’s previous close.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.41.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $6.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $198.05. The stock had a trading volume of 17,668,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,284,541. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $226.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.86. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $304.92. The company has a market capitalization of $185.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and operating momentum — Salesforce reported strong Q4 results (non‑GAAP EPS $3.81 vs. ~ $3.05 consensus) and healthy revenue growth (~$11.2B, ~12% YoY), showing improving margin and cash generation that underpin the rally. Zacks: Q4 Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital return commitment and dividend raise — management authorized an additional $50B buyback and raised the quarterly dividend (~+5.8%), signaling confidence in cash flow and supporting per‑share metrics. That buyback news is a major bullish catalyst for investors focused on returns. CNBC: Buyback & Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance is mixed — Salesforce raised FY‑27 EPS guidance well above consensus, but revenue cues were read variably (some outlets call revenue guidance slightly below expectations while others show modest beats/in‑line). That ambiguity explains the split market reaction. Reuters: Guidance Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: AI/Agentforce narrative remains pivotal — management points to Agentforce/AI traction as the growth driver; some analysts and commentary see evidence of commercial adoption, but market skepticism about AI replacing SaaS persists. Seeking Alpha: AI Take
• Negative Sentiment: Wave of analyst price‑target cuts and at least one downgrade — several firms cut targets (e.g., Roth Mkm, Wells Fargo, RBC, Barclays, Stifel, BMO) and Sanford Bernstein moved to underperform with a $194 target, increasing near‑term selling pressure despite the beat. Benzinga: Analyst Changes
• Negative Sentiment: After‑hours/early‑session weakness and some metric misses — parts of the release (quarterly revenue slightly under certain consensus slices, mixed EPS/GAAP vs. non‑GAAP reads) prompted an initial downleg in extended trading for some investors. Proactive: Market Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and institutional repositioning flagged — reporting shows material insider share sales and large institutional flows that can add pressure if investors interpret actions as liquidity events rather than diversification. QuiverQuant: Insider & Institutional Activity

Salesforce Company Profile

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.