Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 4.2% – Time to Buy?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded up 4.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $188.67 and last traded at $185.6410. 15,324,397 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 11,875,029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.16.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sector relief rally: U.S. software stocks rallied after announcements tied to AI startup Anthropic, lifting peers including Salesforce and helping reverse recent AI-driven selling pressure. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product and M&A momentum: Salesforce has been expanding its AI stack (Momentum acquisition, deeper integrations for Agentforce/Slackbot and partnerships for identity/governance), reinforcing its AI roadmap and revenue/automation use cases. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullish views: Some firms and commentators (Wedbush reaffirmation, Jim Cramer commentary, and bullish SA/Seeking Alpha previews) frame the recent sell-off as an overreaction and a buying opportunity given CRM’s data depth and margin improvement potential. Read More. • Read More. • Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings risk and event-driven volatility: Salesforce reports after the bell Wednesday — markets expect a sizable implied move, which can amplify short-term swings regardless of fundamental headlines. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst positioning: KeyCorp cut its price target (from $400 to $300) but kept an overweight rating, and broader analyst coverage shows a wide range of views — adds both upside potential and uncertainty. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Price-target cuts & downgrade risk: Several outlets flagged large price-target reductions ahead of earnings, feeding caution that consensus estimates and sentiment may be reset lower if guidance disappoints. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Structural/volatility concerns: Commentators warn Salesforce has experienced rapid drawdowns in recent years and that stalled top-line growth or persistent SBP (stock-based compensation) costs could trigger renewed weakness if quarterly results miss expectations. Read More. • Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $235.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.56.

Salesforce Stock Up 4.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $173.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $229.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 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.