Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $227.22 on Tuesday. Salesforce has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $239.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $187.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 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 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fluent Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,265,000. TAM Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter worth $40,945,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Salesforce by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 127,739 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,846,000 after acquiring an additional 3,125 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 184.5% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,983 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 11,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $2,119,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Salesforce to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. Zacks upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: A historical review notes that after Salesforce shares previously fell at least 50% from a record high, they rose about 63% and 44% in the following years. Past performance does not guarantee a repeat. Historical performance analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta for about $2.7 billion, its fifth major acquisition this year. The deal could expand its AI capabilities, though the pace of acquisitions raises questions about integration. Cresta acquisition announcement
• Negative Sentiment: S&P Global Ratings cut Salesforce’s credit rating to “A” from “A+,” citing acquisition spending and a $25 billion debt-financed share repurchase program. The agency said pro forma net debt-to-EBITDA exceeded its prior 2x downgrade threshold, highlighting increased financial risk. S&P rating downgrade report
• Negative Sentiment: ETFs were net sellers of $15.2 million in Salesforce shares on Nov. 2, a modest potential source of selling pressure. ETF flows report

About Salesforce

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.