Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CRM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $240.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $246.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.32. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 24.13%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total transaction of $597,982.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,165,738,224.67. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,000 shares of company stock valued at $20,357,213. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.