Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price traded down 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $183.60 and last traded at $185.1150. 8,834,701 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 12,719,025 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.21.

Salesforce Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $162.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura Alber acquired 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.