Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded down 2.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $239.91 and last traded at $240.13. 5,392,012 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 7,719,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $246.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.23.

Salesforce Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $232.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $246.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $257.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.66, for a total transaction of $554,985.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,938,108,102.86. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, with a total value of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 67,622 shares of company stock worth $16,714,561 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% in the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its stake in Salesforce by 12.0% in the first quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 921 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.