Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 8.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $170.65 and last traded at $173.3310. Approximately 22,622,926 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 71% from the average daily volume of 13,201,772 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.80.
More Salesforce News
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Expanded Google Cloud partnership boosts Salesforce’s AI positioning and cross-platform agent capabilities — this strengthens Agentforce adoption and could support longer‑term revenue growth. Salesforce and Google Cloud Enable AI Agents to Act Across Both Platforms with Deep Context and End-to-End Workflows
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst and industry write-ups highlight AI-driven usage-based Agentforce traction (strong ARR growth cited) and a narrative that AI can accelerate revenue — a fundamental bullish case for recovery if adoption continues. Salesforce: AI Is A True Acceleration Driver, Not A Hollow Rebrand
- Neutral Sentiment: Montaka’s internal assessment of CRM surfaced publicly — any activist interest or detailed ownership views could matter over time, but immediate market impact depends on follow‑up actions. Here’s Montaka’s Internal Assessment on Salesforce (CRM)
- Neutral Sentiment: High-profile commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) show a split in sentiment but some publicly advise holding rather than selling — this may temper panic selling but is not a substitute for fresh fundamentals or guidance. Jim Cramer Discusses Key Opinion Split About Salesforce (CRM)
- Negative Sentiment: Sector panic after ServiceNow’s weak guidance and follow‑on price‑target cuts has depressed enterprise software valuations broadly — CRM is getting caught in that wave rather than due to company‑specific bad news. Salesforce Stock Is Plummeting Today: What’s Happening?
- Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure (Piper Sandler cut its price target citing rising AI competition) and subsequent downgrades/target cuts across the sector are adding downside risk near term. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) PT Reduced as Piper Sandler Flags Rising AI Competition in Enterprise Software
- Negative Sentiment: Rising geopolitical tensions and macro uncertainty are amplifying risk‑off flows in tech, increasing volatility and heavy volume on the down move. Salesforce Just Dropped 9% on Sector Panic. Is the Cloud Software King on Sale?
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Mizuho reduced their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.18.
Salesforce Stock Down 8.7%
The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.98. 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 stock has a market cap of $141.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 22.54%.
Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,286,909,000 after acquiring an additional 659,573 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after acquiring an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,751,073,000 after acquiring an additional 791,345 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Salesforce
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.
Further Reading
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