Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.9% – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price traded down 1.9% on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $214.67 and last traded at $221.9430. 6,593,476 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 13,175,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.18.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Salesforce to Strong Buy, citing improving earnings prospects. Analysts’ average price target implies about 26% upside, though price targets alone have limited predictive value; upward earnings-estimate revisions are a more encouraging signal. Zacks Strong Buy rationale Analyst price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is planning to acquire AI voice-agent company Cresta, a move that could strengthen its AI and customer-service offerings. The deal’s financial terms and potential impact are not specified in the provided report. Salesforce plans Cresta acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: S&P Global Ratings lowered Salesforce’s credit rating from A+ to A, citing acquisitions and a $25 billion debt-financed buyback. The agency said pro forma net debt-to-EBITDA had exceeded its prior 2x downgrade threshold, raising concerns about capital allocation and leverage. S&P rating downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Investors have sold off software stocks amid questions about whether agentic AI will drive the growth companies have promised. A separate analysis also raises concerns about Salesforce’s competitive position in the software industry, adding to uncertainty about its ability to sustain its leadership. Salesforce and ServiceNow amid software sell-off Salesforce industry position analysis

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $315.00 target price on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $183.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.67.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,914,086,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $844,928,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.