Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CRM. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Barclays cut Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $289.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $227.22 on Tuesday. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The stock has a market cap of $187.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.24. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.69.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 626 Financial LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Salesforce by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 33,676 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,731,000 after buying an additional 6,662 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 5,142 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 3,246 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $1,226,000. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Salesforce to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. Zacks upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: A historical review notes that after Salesforce shares previously fell at least 50% from a record high, they rose about 63% and 44% in the following years. Past performance does not guarantee a repeat. Historical performance analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta for about $2.7 billion, its fifth major acquisition this year. The deal could expand its AI capabilities, though the pace of acquisitions raises questions about integration. Cresta acquisition announcement
• Negative Sentiment: S&P Global Ratings cut Salesforce’s credit rating to “A” from “A+,” citing acquisition spending and a $25 billion debt-financed share repurchase program. The agency said pro forma net debt-to-EBITDA exceeded its prior 2x downgrade threshold, highlighting increased financial risk. S&P rating downgrade report
• Negative Sentiment: ETFs were net sellers of $15.2 million in Salesforce shares on Nov. 2, a modest potential source of selling pressure. ETF flows report

Salesforce Company Profile

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.