Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 2% – What’s Next?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares traded down 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $243.45 and last traded at $244.1920. 11,813,968 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 14,091,065 shares. The stock had previously closed at $249.12.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce adoption is accelerating. Salesforce’s Agentforce annual recurring revenue has surpassed $1.5 billion, supporting the company’s strategy to monetize AI agents and potentially improve revenue growth over time. However, the current scale suggests a steady acceleration rather than an immediate surge. Agentforce ARR Hits $1.5B: Can It Boost Salesforce’s Revenue Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on long-term growth. Recent commentary points to stabilizing growth, rising Agentforce recurring revenue and a valuation that remains below some major enterprise-software rivals. Salesforce also recently reported adjusted EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming company events could determine the next direction. Dreamforce and Investor Day next week may provide updated guidance on AI monetization, Agentforce demand and Salesforce’s growth outlook. Bulls see these events as potential catalysts, while the stock’s recent rally leaves limited room for disappointment. Salesforce is Nearly Fully Priced: Why Bulls Say This is Just the Beginning
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce is reportedly considering a sizable AI acquisition. The company has held talks to acquire Listen Labs, an AI customer-research platform, for approximately $2 billion—four times its latest reported valuation. Investors may question the price, integration risks and whether the deal would accelerate growth enough to justify the expense. Salesforce has held talks to buy Listen Labs
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and profit-taking are adding pressure. Salesforce’s stock has risen sharply over the past month and is near its 52-week high, prompting debate over whether the AI opportunity is already reflected in the price. Articles also caution that the latest earnings beat may not represent a durable acceleration, increasing sensitivity to any weaker outlook or slower AI conversion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Macquarie Infrastructure lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Salesforce from $236.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.50.

Salesforce Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.92. The company has a market capitalization of $200.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank increased its position in Salesforce by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,781,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc is a cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management (CRM) technology and related enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data analytics and business operations through subscription-based software and cloud services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Data Cloud and the Salesforce Platform. Salesforce also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and artificial intelligence capabilities, including its Agentforce platform for building and deploying AI agents.

Founded in 1999, Salesforce is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and serves businesses and organizations across a broad range of industries and geographic markets worldwide.