Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Bank of America currently has $285.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $160.00.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Susquehanna assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.12.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:CRM opened at $235.95 on Monday. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $229.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were 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 trade 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

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and AI acquisition support sentiment: Bank of America reportedly issued a rare double upgrade, arguing that Salesforce’s AI offerings could deepen customer dependence on its platform. The bullish call followed Salesforce’s agreement to acquire AI-powered analytics platform Loops, which could strengthen its data and analytics capabilities. Salesforce Gets a Rare BofA Double Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Technical setup points to additional upside: A weekly bullish reversal, daily double-bottom pattern and potential bullish-flag breakout suggest the post-breakout pullback may be ending, according to technical analysis. Salesforce Price Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded DocuSign partnership adds an AI workflow catalyst: DocuSign’s Intelligent Agreement Management platform will be integrated natively with Salesforce, Agentforce and Slack, potentially increasing the usefulness of Salesforce’s AI agents for revenue teams. DocuSign and Salesforce Launch Intelligent Agreement Management
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative valuation looks favorable: One comparison with ServiceNow concluded Salesforce has stronger earnings estimate revisions, faster AI growth and a lower valuation, although investors still need evidence that those advantages will translate into sustained growth. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow
• Negative Sentiment: AI monetization remains the key overhang: Despite earnings beats, skeptics question whether agentic AI can materially improve Salesforce’s profits. Reports also highlight AI cannibalization risks and note that many customers have not yet adopted a potentially important upgrade, leaving investors cautious about near-term revenue acceleration. Agentic AI Skepticism

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.