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

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $325.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 23.91% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.89.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $242.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $244.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $258.93. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.40, for a total value of $558,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,958,834,236.40. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This represents a 801.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,634,805 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,826,049,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1,729.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $538,020,000 after buying an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $467,944,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.