Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 1.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $200.67 and last traded at $199.30. 22,973,591 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 117% from the average session volume of 10,589,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.38.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large government contract — reports that Salesforce won a roughly $5.6 billion U.S. Army cloud deal boost revenue visibility and strategic credibility in the public-sector/defense cloud market. Salesforce (CRM) Wins $5.6 Billion Army Deal
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption story remains intact — analysts and commentators highlight accelerating AI integration across Salesforce’s platform; view is that revenue recognition may lag adoption but long-term addressable market is expanding. Salesforce: AI Adoption Is Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Technical/analyst rebound thesis — some technicians and analysts call CRM oversold after recent declines and point to consensus earnings-upgrade momentum that could spark a short-term reversal. After Plunging 17.7% in 4 Weeks, Here’s Why the Trend Might Reverse
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional support noted — high-profile commentators (Jim Cramer) point to long-term holdings by charitable trusts, signaling stable, patient ownership that can cushion volatility. Jim Cramer highlights charitable trust ownership
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings timing set — Salesforce will release Q4 and full?year fiscal 2026 results after the close on Feb. 25 and host a conference call, a likely volatility event that investors are positioning around. Salesforce Announces Timing of its Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst roundup & valuation debate — multi?analyst pieces and valuation screens flag a perceived discount for CRM but show mixed verdicts among 25 experts; this keeps sentiment divided. The Analyst Verdict: Salesforce In The Eyes Of 25 Experts
• Negative Sentiment: Price risk and negative headlines — coverage highlighting a 52?week low and a 42% fall over the past year fuels concern that CRM could be a “value trap” if growth or margins disappoint. Is CRM Stock A Value Play Or A Value Trap?
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing downside speculation — additional op-eds question how low the stock can go, keeping downside narratives alive and contributing to selling pressure. How Low Can Salesforce Stock Go?

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.57.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $186.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $245.71 and its 200-day moving average is $246.57.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Aspire Growth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the second quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 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.