Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $223.00 to $194.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target points to a potential downside of 1.12% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.81.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.3%

CRM traded up $4.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $196.19. 15,681,907 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,229,853. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $238.86. Salesforce has a 12-month low of $174.57 and a 12-month high of $304.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.78 earnings per share. 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 predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,085,000 after acquiring an additional 10,633 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co increased its position in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $44,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 61,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,610,000 after purchasing an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and AI traction — Salesforce reported non-GAAP EPS of $3.81 (well above consensus) and revenue roughly in line with expectations; management highlighted Agentforce (agentic AI) momentum as a driver of commercial traction. Salesforce Q4 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital return boost — Management authorized a $50 billion buyback and raised the quarterly dividend (~5.8% increase), signaling confidence and supporting EPS per-share upside. CNBC: $50B Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Upbeat FY27 EPS guide — Salesforce raised FY27 EPS guidance (13.11–13.19) and issued Q1 EPS guidance above Street estimates, suggesting margin leverage and near?term earnings strength. Company Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions mixed — Some firms (e.g., Wedbush) reiterated bullish ratings while others kept holds; the street consensus remains polarized between Buy and Hold views. TipRanks / Citi Hold
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector context — Broader SaaS volatility and AI?disruption debate continue to drive sentiment swings that can amplify moves in CRM despite company-level fundamentals. MarketBeat: SaaS sector context
• Negative Sentiment: Price-target cuts and downgrades — Multiple analysts cut targets this morning (RBC 290?210; Barclays 265?252; Stifel 300?250; BMO 235?225), which can cap upside and sustain selling pressure. Benzinga: Analyst Target Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term revenue/growth concerns — Some outlets flagged guidance/revenue commentary as softer than hoped, and ongoing investor worry that AI could compress long-term SaaS pricing/usage is keeping multiple investors cautious. Proactive: Softer Revenue Reaction

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.