Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 2.2% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price dropped 2.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $149.80 and last traded at $151.6690. Approximately 55,503,160 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 300% from the average daily volume of 13,881,371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.02.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Salesforce to buy from neutral and set a $200 price target, signaling roughly 32% upside and citing valuation appeal plus AI-related gains. Monness upgrades Salesforce stock on valuation, AI gains; sees 31% upside
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterated confidence in Salesforce following its $3.6 billion acquisition of Fin, a move that could strengthen the company’s AI/customer-agent product lineup. Salesforce (CRM) Earns Vote of Confidence from Truist after $3.6 Billion Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted Salesforce as a long-term growth name and an AI beneficiary, with bullish coverage around its Agentforce strategy and generative AI positioning. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparison pieces versus Oracle and broad stock-picking articles suggest investors are weighing Salesforce’s slower recent performance against its AI growth narrative rather than reacting to a single new catalyst. Oracle vs. Salesforce: Which Tech Giant Is The Better Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: A recent commentary noted that Salesforce stock has fallen sharply this year, reflecting investor concern about execution, growth expectations, and the company’s discounted valuation versus past highs. Salesforce (CRM) Stock Plunges 41% This Year — A Buying Opportunity Emerges?

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered Salesforce from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Salesforce to a “negative” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $124.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. 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 forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,774 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 3,152 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.