Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 2.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $170.03 and last traded at $171.2210. 10,730,855 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 13,432,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.35.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce said its Agentforce ARR is surging, suggesting renewed growth momentum and improving demand for its AI products. The company also looks cheaper on valuation after a steep year-to-date selloff, which may attract value-oriented investors. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s acquisition of m3ter supports a shift toward usage-based AI pricing and could strengthen monetization of Agentforce and other AI offerings over time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg reported that Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic has risen to about $5 billion, highlighting the company’s exposure to a leading AI startup and reinforcing its strategic AI positioning. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce presented at the Mizuho Technology Conference, but no major new financial guidance or product surprise was highlighted in the article summary. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports pointed to layoffs, which can signal cost pressure or slower-than-expected productivity gains from AI initiatives, even if the cuts are intended to improve efficiency. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Articles about AI competition pressuring CRM and the stock sliding despite an earnings beat suggest investors remain concerned about Salesforce’s ability to convert AI momentum into sustained share-price recovery. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.26.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $140.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.98.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.