Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.5% – What’s Next?

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded down 1.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $194.45 and last traded at $195.3420. 11,054,796 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 12,809,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.34.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company commenced the largest-ever accelerated share repurchase (~103M shares) as part of a previously announced $50B program — immediate delivered liquidity and share reduction that typically supports EPS and share price. Business Wire: ASR
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $25B open-market buyback (up to ~14.1% of shares) — signals management views shares as undervalued and adds a structural buyer for the stock. RTT News: Buyback Authorization
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Truist reiterated a Buy and $280 price target, praising Salesforce’s capital-allocation strategy (note: article also mentions reports of a debt raise). InsiderMonkey: Truist Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and strategy analyses highlight Salesforce “doubling down” on AI and growth while acknowledging macro/geo risks — useful context but mixed near-term impact. Seeking Alpha: Doubling Down
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan notes option strategies and scenarios tied to geopolitical uncertainty — shows institutional trading interest but not a clear directional bet. Seeking Alpha: J.P. Morgan Options
• Neutral Sentiment: Notable investors (e.g., Bill Nygren/Oakmark) added CRM — a positive endorsement but not an immediate catalyst. 247WallSt: Nygren Buys
• Negative Sentiment: Reports Salesforce plans to raise up to $25B of debt to help fund capital moves — while leverage is moderate on current metrics, a large debt issuance can spook some investors, especially near-term, and may have contributed to selling pressure. InsiderMonkey: Debt Raise Report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $209.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.58. The company has a market capitalization of $180.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. 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. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought 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 owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth 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 period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,781,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.