Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading 2.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price shot up 2.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $155.18 and last traded at $153.27. 20,012,849 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average daily volume of 14,036,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.61.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $123.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.