Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective decreased by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $188.00 to $187.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 6.07% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.47.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7%

CRM stock traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $176.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,272,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,999,325. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $163.52 and a 52 week high of $276.80. The stock has a market cap of $144.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. 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 simple moving average is $181.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,800,353,000 after buying an additional 270,913 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,286,909,000 after buying an additional 659,573 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,552,896,000 after buying an additional 47,189,352 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,019,199,000 after buying an additional 2,669,891 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,751,073,000 after buying an additional 791,345 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce reported first-quarter results that beat estimates on both earnings and revenue, with revenue up 13% year over year and Agentforce annual recurring revenue crossing $1 billion, signaling stronger adoption of its AI products. The company also raised guidance and launched a $25 billion accelerated buyback. CRM Q1 Earnings Top Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on ARR Milestone
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced an expanded collaboration with CVS Health to use Agentforce Health for faster, more personalized call-center service, reinforcing the company’s AI platform strategy and potential enterprise demand. CVS Health to Deliver Faster, More Personalized Call Center Care for Millions of Members with Salesforce’s Agentforce Health
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street analysts were split after the report: several firms lowered price targets, but many still kept bullish ratings and targets well above the current share price, suggesting ongoing confidence despite near-term caution. Salesforce Q1 Results ‘Uninspiring’: ‘Nothing To Dispel The AI Threat Narrative’
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary said the quarter was good but not enough to fully resolve investor concerns about AI competition and slower top-line momentum, which helps explain why the stock reaction has been cautious despite the beat. Salesforce beats on every metric but the existential AI question lingers
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts trimmed price targets, including Sanford C. Bernstein and Wells Fargo, reflecting concern that Salesforce’s revenue outlook was only slightly below expectations and that growth may be moderating. Analyst price target updates on Salesforce

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.