Sanford C. Bernstein Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $194.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price decreased by Sanford C. Bernstein from $223.00 to $194.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an underperform rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.06.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $194.47 on Thursday. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $174.57 and a 1 year high of $303.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.98 and its 200 day moving average is $238.37. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.28%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 21.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase 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 modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on profitability and AI traction — Non‑GAAP EPS came in at $3.81 (well above consensus) and management highlighted Agentforce/AI monetization as a growth driver, supporting the view that AI is adding commercial value. Revenue In Line With Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital‑return program — Salesforce raised its dividend and authorized a $50B buyback, signaling management confidence and improving EPS leverage if executed. That buyback is a clear near‑term support for the share price. AI Bet & Buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term targets updated — Management lifted multiyear ambitions (targeting roughly $63B revenue by FY2030) and kept FY27 EPS guidance in a tight range; this supports the long‑term bull case but leaves near‑term pacing ambiguous. FY30 Target & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance and metrics disappointed some — cRPO and other cloud momentum measures were only in‑line, and commentary implied a mid‑year slowdown before AI‑driven reacceleration, which hurt investor confidence. Jefferies on Near‑Term Slowdown
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and mixed ratings — Several banks trimmed price targets (examples: Sanford Bernstein, TD Cowen, RBC, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson) or issued neutral/underperform stances, increasing short‑term selling pressure as models were reset. Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over AI impact persists — Coverage highlights that some investors still worry AI could compress SaaS economics despite management’s assurances, creating continued volatility in CRM shares. 3 Reasons Earnings Failed to Impress

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.