Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 3.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price dropped 3.1% during trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $188.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $164.75 and last traded at $165.9590. Approximately 10,819,240 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 12,868,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.31.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $281.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.82.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce continues to draw supportive long-term views from analysts, with brokerages maintaining an average “Moderate Buy” rating, which signals ongoing confidence in the company’s growth profile. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s strong cash generation remains a key bullish point, with fiscal 2026 free cash flow of $14.4 billion helping fund shareholder returns and AI investments such as Agentforce and Data 360. Salesforce Generates Strong Cash Flow: Can It Boost Shareholder Value?
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup lowered its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200 while keeping a neutral rating, which points to tempered upside expectations rather than a fundamentally negative outlook. Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $188.00 Price Target at Citigroup
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo also reiterated a Hold rating, adding to the mixed analyst tone around the stock. Wells Fargo Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Salesforce (CRM)
• Negative Sentiment: Recent market articles note that Salesforce (CRM) has been dipping more than the broader market, indicating investors have been selling the stock faster than the overall index amid the latest weakness. Salesforce (CRM) Dips More Than Broader Market: What You Should Know

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,286,909,000 after purchasing an additional 659,573 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,751,073,000 after purchasing an additional 791,345 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $185.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.19. The company has a market capitalization of $135.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.