Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2.4% – What’s Next?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was down 2.4% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $176.31 and last traded at $177.5150. Approximately 9,289,891 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 12,920,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.82.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s strong free cash flow remains a key support for the stock, with roughly $14.4 billion generated in fiscal 2026 and substantial capital available for shareholder returns and AI initiatives such as Agentforce and Data 360.
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage sentiment remains constructive overall, with analysts assigning Salesforce an average rating of “Moderate Buy,” which can help offset some near-term weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup cut its price target on Salesforce to $188 from $200 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling tempered expectations rather than a major deterioration in the company’s outlook. Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given New $188.00 Price Target at Citigroup
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo reiterated its hold rating on Salesforce, reinforcing the view that analysts see the stock as fairly valued after recent gains. Wells Fargo Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Salesforce (CRM)
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce has been slipping more than the broader market in recent sessions, reflecting investor caution and some profit-taking after the stock’s recent rally. Salesforce (CRM) Dips More Than Broader Market: What You Should Know

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $395.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.82.

Salesforce Trading Down 3.1%

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $185.13 and its 200-day moving average is $216.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.38%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.54%.

Salesforce announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

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

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,800,353,000 after purchasing an additional 270,913 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,080,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,286,909,000 after purchasing an additional 659,573 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 24,056.7% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,019,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,669,891 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,751,073,000 after buying an additional 791,345 shares in the last quarter. 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.