Salesforce’s (CRM) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $300.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. CLSA started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday, July 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $259.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.00. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. 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, research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 12.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 683,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $181,143,000 after buying an additional 24,332 shares in the last quarter. SFE Investment Counsel boosted its position in Salesforce by 82.7% in the 4th quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 17,394 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,608,000 after buying an additional 7,871 shares during the period. Fluent Financial LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,265,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 127,739 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,846,000 after acquiring an additional 3,125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI growth is becoming material: Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue reached nearly $3.9 billion, up more than 210% year over year. Agentforce ARR exceeded $1.5 billion and grew more than 240%, supporting the view that Salesforce is successfully monetizing artificial intelligence. Salesforce Grew Agentforce and Data 360 ARR More Than 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong: Cantor Fitzgerald raised its Salesforce price target to $300, while BTIG reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and said it is increasingly confident in improving business trends. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Salesforce Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Salesforce declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable October 8 to shareholders of record September 17. The dividend provides a modest income component and signals continued confidence in cash generation. Salesforce Announces Quarterly Dividend

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.