Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Jumps 3.6% – Should You Buy?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price was up 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $252.42 and last traded at $250.3730. Approximately 9,730,986 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 13,432,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.78.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Braze acquisition strengthens Salesforce’s AI strategy. Salesforce will acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, reportedly representing a 58% premium. Braze adds real-time consumer event processing and engagement tools that could improve Marketing Cloud and support Salesforce’s Agentforce AI initiatives. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see strategic upside from the transaction. UBS called the purchase a solid strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing position and encourage further software-industry consolidation. The acquisition may help Salesforce shift from defending its position against AI disruption to expanding its AI-enabled product offering. Salesforce’s Braze Deal Wins UBS Backing
• Positive Sentiment: Positive sentiment is also coming from valuation and analyst support. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its overweight rating and set a $300 price target, implying additional upside from the referenced price. Salesforce is also being highlighted as a relatively attractive value stock after a strong six-month recovery, suggesting investors are buying the shares despite a broader risk-off market. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader software-sector buying is supporting CRM. Adobe and other enterprise software names are rebounding as investors revisit stocks previously pressured by AI-related disruption concerns. This appears to be a sector-driven boost in addition to Salesforce-specific deal news. Software Stocks Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about the cost and execution risk. The all-cash purchase could raise questions about capital allocation, integration, antitrust approval and Salesforce’s ability to restore organic growth. UBS specifically noted that growth concerns remain, and the stock initially fell after the deal was announced before sentiment improved. Salesforce’s Braze Buyout

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.6%

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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $235.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, 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. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fluent Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $2,265,000. TAM Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $40,945,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $1,004,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 127,739 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,125 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 184.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,983 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 11,663 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.