Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price dropped 2.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $156.48 and last traded at $162.6530. Approximately 13,831,991 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 13,938,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.58.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc downgraded Salesforce and cut its optimism around the company’s AI roadmap, saying Agentforce may need more time to prove it can drive material growth. Salesforce Stock Downgraded at ‘Possibly Exactly the Wrong Time’
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer also weighed on sentiment, with the “cheap can still get cheaper” view highlighting continued caution toward Salesforce after a long stretch of underperformance in enterprise software. Jim Cramer: “Cheap Can Still Get Cheaper.” Why He’s Still Avoiding Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce also announced new Slackbot capabilities and a U.S. Air Force fleet management win, which support the company’s product story and long-term government/business adoption, but may not be enough to offset the near-term AI and valuation concerns. U.S. Air Force Leverages Missionforce to Modernize Sustainment and Operations for $13.5 Billion Vehicle Fleet
• Neutral Sentiment: Several bullish research notes argue the stock is deeply discounted after its selloff, suggesting some analysts see upside if Salesforce can convert AI investment into faster growth later this year. Salesforce (CRM) Upgraded as AI Bear Case Looks Overdone

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wolfe Research cut Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Salesforce from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.42.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.18. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.63 and a 200-day moving average of $195.42.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

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.