Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 1.6% – What’s Next?

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) were down 1.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $195.87 and last traded at $198.8070. Approximately 10,418,560 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 12,481,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.14.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $217.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.79. The firm has a market cap of $183.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.