Salesforce’s (CRM) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $275.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.89.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $245.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $234.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.75. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.270-11.330 EPS. Q2 2026 guidance at 2.760-2.780 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.44, for a total transaction of $545,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,887,841,273.24. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 51,032 shares of company stock valued at $13,171,536 in the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% in the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Salesforce

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.