Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price dropped 1.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $164.78 and last traded at $166.5970. 8,123,756 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 13,949,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.52.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced that the U.S. Air Force’s 441st Vehicle Support Chain Operations Squadron is using its Missionforce National Security software to manage a $13.5 billion fleet, a high-profile contract that highlights CRM’s public-sector traction and could support future revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce to Buy from Neutral and set a $228 price target, saying the bearish case around AI looks overdone; that reinforces the view that the stock may have been oversold. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent analyst and media reports pointed to improving sentiment on CRM, with bullish commentary about its AI/data strategy, Agentforce momentum, and discounted valuation potentially attracting buyers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Salesforce with ServiceNow and discussing broader enterprise AI trends may be helping investors reassess CRM’s strategic position, but these pieces are more interpretive than company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the positive news flow, some articles noted ongoing margin concerns and recent share weakness, reminding investors that Salesforce still needs to prove its AI investments can translate into stronger profitability. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Macquarie Infrastructure lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.42.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $172.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its stake in Salesforce by 11.2% during the second quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 129,253 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $20,249,000 after acquiring an additional 12,985 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 50.1% in the second quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 1,623 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.3% in the second quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ACT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 42.2% in the second quarter. ACT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,803 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.