Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price was up 1.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $232.56 and last traded at $230.79. Approximately 3,691,021 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 7,714,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Northland Securities lowered shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $264.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.86.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $219.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,122 shares of company stock worth $13,367,438. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Connors Investor Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 56,214 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,323,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 15.4% in the third quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 3,492 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $1,065,000. Capital Square LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,259,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.