Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.4% – What’s Next?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 1.4% on Monday. The company traded as low as $225.15 and last traded at $225.8660. Approximately 6,580,760 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average daily volume of 13,213,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.17.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Salesforce to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. Zacks upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: A historical review notes that after Salesforce shares previously fell at least 50% from a record high, they rose about 63% and 44% in the following years. Past performance does not guarantee a repeat. Historical performance analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI startup Cresta for about $2.7 billion, its fifth major acquisition this year. The deal could expand its AI capabilities, though the pace of acquisitions raises questions about integration. Cresta acquisition announcement
• Negative Sentiment: S&P Global Ratings cut Salesforce’s credit rating to “A” from “A+,” citing acquisition spending and a $25 billion debt-financed share repurchase program. The agency said pro forma net debt-to-EBITDA exceeded its prior 2x downgrade threshold, highlighting increased financial risk. S&P rating downgrade report
• Negative Sentiment: ETFs were net sellers of $15.2 million in Salesforce shares on Nov. 2, a modest potential source of selling pressure. ETF flows report

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Freedom Broker raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $187.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.69.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.