Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $279.1765.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aspire Growth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 961 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $178.31 on Friday. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $296.05. The stock has a market cap of $145.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.22 and its 200-day moving average is $222.17.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. The business’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. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bull case surfaced summarizing why investors should consider CRM — bullish Substack thesis highlighted valuation and AI upside. Is Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) A Good Stock To Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks reports Agentforce has reached ~$800M ARR with 169% growth, signaling tangible AI-driven revenue momentum that could support future upside. Agentforce Adoption Rises: Can It Be Salesforce’s Next Growth Engine?
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on partnership and capital return chatter (Google collaboration, $25B buyback commentary) reinforces strategic catalysts and management’s optionality on capital allocation. Salesforce (CRM) Stock: Google Partnership, $25B Buyback, and What Analysts Are Saying
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with peers (ServiceNow) highlight valuation differences and competing AI execution — useful for relative‑value decisions but not company‑specific news. Cheap Salesforce Vs. Expensive ServiceNow: Which Stock Is A Better Buy Today?
• Neutral Sentiment: Montaka’s internal assessment coverage provides investor insight into hedge‑fund views but adds nuance rather than immediate directional pressure. Here’s Montaka’s Internal Assessment on Salesforce (CRM)
• Negative Sentiment: Articles warning AI could reduce demand for traditional CRM functions — a thematic risk that has driven some bearish calls and investor caution. Salesforce (CRM) Stock At Significant Risk Of Collapsing Due To AI
• Negative Sentiment: Sector‑wide panic after ServiceNow’s weak guidance pressured enterprise software, triggering steep intraday declines in CRM recently. Salesforce Just Dropped 9% on Sector Panic. Is the Cloud Software King on Sale?
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler trimmed its price target citing rising AI competition in enterprise software — analyst downgrades/cuts can cap near‑term upside. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) PT Reduced as Piper Sandler Flags Rising AI Competition in Enterprise Software

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.