Canaccord Genuity Group Lowers Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $225.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $250.00 to $225.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 27.61% from the stock’s current price.

CRM has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.50.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE CRM traded down $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $176.32. 14,280,032 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,957,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $144.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.16. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $276.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 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 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 2,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,145.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,085,000 after acquiring an additional 10,633 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $44,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $113,420,000 after purchasing an additional 61,270 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,610,000 after purchasing an additional 83,403 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce reported first-quarter results that beat expectations on both earnings and revenue, with EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion versus $11.05 billion forecast. Management also raised full-year profit guidance, which supports the stock. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce said Agentforce annualized revenue crossed the $1 billion mark, reinforcing investor interest in its AI strategy and showing that AI products are gaining traction. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce announced an expanded collaboration with CVS Health to use Agentforce Health to streamline call-center interactions for millions of members and providers, a potential validation of its AI offerings in a major enterprise customer. PR Newswire article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts largely kept bullish ratings in place after the report, including reaffirmed “outperform”/“overweight” calls from Wedbush, Piper Sandler, Citizens JMP and Cantor Fitzgerald, though several firms trimmed price targets, reflecting a more cautious near-term setup. Benzinga article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on slower top-line trends and a slightly light revenue outlook for next quarter, which fed the “AI threat” narrative and helped explain why the stock did not get a bigger post-earnings lift. Stocktwits article

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.