Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Raised to “Buy” at Bank of America

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $285.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 19.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 18th. CLSA assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Freedom Broker lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.12.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $238.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.67.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. The company’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. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 4,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in Salesforce by 410.3% during the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $610,974,000. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce News Summary

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 to $285 from $160. The firm believes AI should strengthen demand for enterprise software platforms, citing Agentforce growth, Salesforce’s valuation, and its large share-repurchase program. The upgrade helped improve sentiment toward CRM after a period of underperformance. Salesforce Just Got a Rare Double Upgrade—What Changed?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Loops, an AI-powered analytics platform, reportedly for about $30 million. Loops could enhance Tableau and Slack by proactively identifying business anomalies, explaining performance changes, and recommending actions. The technology supports Salesforce’s push toward “agentic” and embedded AI, potentially increasing platform usage and customer retention. Salesforce to buy AI-powered analytics platform Loops
• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce momentum and capital returns are strengthening the investment case. Coverage says Agentforce has surpassed an estimated $1.5 billion in annual recurring revenue, while remaining performance obligations rose about 14% to $33.5 billion. Salesforce’s approximately $25 billion accelerated buyback could further support earnings per share and valuation. Bear to bull: A double upgrade of Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Docusign expanded its Salesforce partnership by making its Intelligent Agreement Management platform available natively across Salesforce, Agentforce, and Slack. The agreement reinforces Salesforce’s role as a central workflow platform and provides another use case for its AI agents. Docusign and Salesforce Launch Intelligent Agreement Management
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s latest quarterly results showed a significant EPS beat and roughly 11% year-over-year revenue growth, but investors continue to seek evidence that AI adoption will accelerate overall sales rather than merely improve product engagement.
• Negative Sentiment: The main risk is AI cannibalization. Investors worry that automation could reduce demand for traditional per-seat software licenses. Salesforce is responding with usage-based pricing, but Loops integration and Agentforce trials must translate into paid upgrades and sustained organic growth. Elevated short interest and integration risk add further pressure. What Would It Take For Salesforce Stock To Move Higher?

Salesforce Company Profile

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.