Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $332.5833.

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,061,511,978.42. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,577 shares of company stock valued at $18,005,778. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,484,616,000 after purchasing an additional 600,386 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 32,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,825,000 after buying an additional 2,436 shares in the last quarter. Notis McConarty Edward grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 71.6% during the 1st quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,036,482 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,802,000 after buying an additional 15,782 shares during the period. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 104,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,133,000 after acquiring an additional 31,537 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $246.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.23. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $234.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 24.13%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.