Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 1.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares dropped 1.3% during trading on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $257.00 to $197.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $183.23 and last traded at $185.3540. Approximately 9,543,781 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 11,692,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.79.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.00.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce showing early revenue momentum — Zacks highlights that Salesforce’s Agentforce AI platform drove a large recurring-revenue surge (reported ~330% in Q3 FY26) and could reignite sales growth if adoption continues. Salesforce Bets on Agentforce: Will It Power CRM’s Next Growth Cycle?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade highlights valuation edge — Seeking Alpha reports a rating upgrade to Buy, arguing CRM’s valuation is compelling after the AI-driven SaaS selloff and that Q4 results could show accelerating revenue and clearer AI-driven profitability levers. Salesforce: Q4 Earnings Is An Opportunity To Silence The Bears (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Technicals/Wall Street viewpoint: “buy the dip” case — Zacks notes CRM is technically oversold and that analysts have been revising earnings estimates higher, a setup some traders see as ripe for a reversal. Down 15.3% in 4 Weeks, Here’s Why You Should You Buy the Dip in Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Founder-led credibility cited — Zacks includes Salesforce among founder-led companies with durable growth potential, which can support investor confidence over the long term. Founder-Led Powerhouses That Boast Durable Growth Potential
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner/market development — AcuityMD launched an app on Salesforce AppExchange, showing ecosystem demand but limited near-term financial impact. AcuityMD Announces AcuityMD for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer-comparison questions — Forbes asks if Salesforce is losing ground to faster-scaling AI rivals; useful context but not new fundamentals. Is Salesforce Stock Losing Ground To Its AI Rivals?
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cutting targets and issuing neutral/hold calls — Citi trimmed its price target to $197 and moved to Neutral, and other shops (Wells Fargo, RBC, BTIG actions reported) have reduced upside, increasing near-term selling pressure. This is a primary driver of today’s weakness. Citigroup Lowers Price Target on Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Broader selloff and bearish notes — Mizuho and other outlets published pessimistic takes and there are headlines highlighting CRM as one of the Dow’s YTD laggards; combined with AI SaaS fears, that amplifies downside momentum. Mizuho Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $233.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.98.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.