Salesforce’s (CRM) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Macquarie

Macquarie reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $250.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.23.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $245.09 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $244.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $233.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.37, for a total transaction of $536,332.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,839,361,179.27. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,521,495 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 260.0% in the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.