Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares were down 2.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $156.48 and last traded at $162.6530. Approximately 13,831,991 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 13,938,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.58.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc downgraded Salesforce and cut its optimism around the company’s AI roadmap, saying Agentforce may need more time to prove it can drive material growth. Salesforce Stock Downgraded at ‘Possibly Exactly the Wrong Time’
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary from Jim Cramer also weighed on sentiment, with the “cheap can still get cheaper” view highlighting continued caution toward Salesforce after a long stretch of underperformance in enterprise software. Jim Cramer: “Cheap Can Still Get Cheaper.” Why He’s Still Avoiding Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce also announced new Slackbot capabilities and a U.S. Air Force fleet management win, which support the company’s product story and long-term government/business adoption, but may not be enough to offset the near-term AI and valuation concerns. U.S. Air Force Leverages Missionforce to Modernize Sustainment and Operations for $13.5 Billion Vehicle Fleet
• Neutral Sentiment: Several bullish research notes argue the stock is deeply discounted after its selloff, suggesting some analysts see upside if Salesforce can convert AI investment into faster growth later this year. Salesforce (CRM) Upgraded as AI Bear Case Looks Overdone

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 12th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. 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 for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.42.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $133.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.58 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly 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, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 43.1% in the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 2,901 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Fluent Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $2,265,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the second quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 5,573 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.