Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 3.6% – What’s Next?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares shot up 3.6% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $252.42 and last traded at $250.3730. 9,730,986 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 13,432,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.78.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Braze acquisition strengthens Salesforce’s AI strategy. Salesforce will acquire customer-engagement platform Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in cash, reportedly representing a 58% premium. Braze adds real-time consumer event processing and engagement tools that could improve Marketing Cloud and support Salesforce’s Agentforce AI initiatives. The transaction is expected to close in fiscal 2028, subject to regulatory approval. Salesforce Fuels AI Engine With $5.66B Braze Buyout
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see strategic upside from the transaction. UBS called the purchase a solid strategic fit at a reasonable price, while Jefferies said it could improve Salesforce’s marketing position and encourage further software-industry consolidation. The acquisition may help Salesforce shift from defending its position against AI disruption to expanding its AI-enabled product offering. Salesforce’s Braze Deal Wins UBS Backing
• Positive Sentiment: Positive sentiment is also coming from valuation and analyst support. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its overweight rating and set a $300 price target, implying additional upside from the referenced price. Salesforce is also being highlighted as a relatively attractive value stock after a strong six-month recovery, suggesting investors are buying the shares despite a broader risk-off market. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader software-sector buying is supporting CRM. Adobe and other enterprise software names are rebounding as investors revisit stocks previously pressured by AI-related disruption concerns. This appears to be a sector-driven boost in addition to Salesforce-specific deal news. Software Stocks Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about the cost and execution risk. The all-cash purchase could raise questions about capital allocation, integration, antitrust approval and Salesforce’s ability to restore organic growth. UBS specifically noted that growth concerns remain, and the stock initially fell after the deal was announced before sentiment improved. Salesforce’s Braze Buyout

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays lowered shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.98.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.6%

The firm has a market cap of $206.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 1.10 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.52.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.