Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 3.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $175.97 and last traded at $173.7720. 13,548,916 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 12,873,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.58.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s stock rose after reports highlighted expanding AI momentum, solid financial performance, and a newly announced U.S. Air Force contract that bolsters confidence in demand for Agentforce and secure government cloud tools. Why Salesforce stock was surging today?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a $72 million U.S. Air Force agreement as part of a broader Department of Defense contract, expanding its footprint in highly regulated government environments and validating its AI platform for mission-critical workflows. Salesforce’s Air Force Deal Tests Agentforce’s Role In Secure Government AI
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also gained attention after a new partnership with Moderna to use Agentforce Life Sciences to unify global operations, reinforcing the company’s AI and industry-specific software expansion. Salesforce (CRM), Moderna Partner to Unify Global Operations via Agentforce Life Sciences
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles pointed to Salesforce as a long-term value and trending stock, suggesting continued investor interest rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Salesforce (CRM) is a Top Value Stock for the Long-Term
• Negative Sentiment: Citi trimmed its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200, citing weak enterprise software spending trends, which is a reminder that the broader software demand backdrop remains mixed. Citi Cuts PT on Salesforce (CRM) From $200 To $188 Amid Weak Enterprise Software Spending Trends

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Northland Securities cut their target price on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.82.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.7%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $184.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Laura Alber bought 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. The trade was a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.