Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Lifted to “Buy” by Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $285.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $160.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CRM. Scotiabank lowered Salesforce from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. KeyCorp cut shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.12.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $233.74 on Monday. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $227.50 and a 200 day moving average of $193.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded Salesforce from Underperform to Buy and raised its price target from $160 to $285. The rare double upgrade reflects greater confidence that AI demand can accelerate Salesforce’s growth and improve the valuation case. Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Loops, an AI analytics platform, for an estimated $30 million. The technology is expected to strengthen Tableau and Slack by proactively identifying business trends, anomalies and recommended actions within customers’ workflows. Salesforce to buy AI analytics platform Loops for Tableau
• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce adoption is becoming more financially meaningful: the platform reportedly exceeded $1.5 billion in annual recurring revenue, while remaining performance obligations rose about 14% to $33.5 billion. Usage-based pricing could also help Salesforce capture value from AI automation rather than relying solely on per-seat subscriptions. Bear to bull: A double upgrade of Salesforce illustrates the folly of the SaaSpocalypse
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s approximately $25 billion share-repurchase program, strong profitability and relatively modest forward valuation are providing additional support for the shares. Salesforce also recently reported a significant earnings beat, reinforcing confidence in execution. Has Salesforce Fallen Far Enough To Look Undervalued On Earnings?
• Neutral Sentiment: The Loops acquisition is expected to close in November. Investors will need evidence that the technology produces paid upgrades and sustained revenue growth, rather than only high trial activity.
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain from elevated short interest, Salesforce’s debt load and uncertainty over whether AI-driven growth can offset pressure on traditional software seat licenses. Integration and enterprise-spending risks could limit the recovery.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.