Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 3.1% – Still a Buy?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares traded up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $194.70 and last traded at $192.4810. Approximately 10,809,702 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 13,748,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (down from $287.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.51.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $157.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $171.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.