Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Sets New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $275.00 to $235.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $176.50 and last traded at $176.3620, with a volume of 2448374 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.16.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 98.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,085,000 after buying an additional 10,633 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $44,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 15.1% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $113,420,000 after purchasing an additional 61,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Salesforce by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $66,610,000 after purchasing an additional 83,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.01.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

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.