Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 8.2% Following Dividend Announcement

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $188.55 and last traded at $190.5980. Approximately 4,770,273 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 12,944,237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.17.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho cut their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.47.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $155.02 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.72.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce delivered a strong quarterly beat, with EPS and revenue both ahead of Wall Street estimates, and it said Agentforce annualized recurring revenue topped $1 billion, signaling early traction in its AI strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised FY2027 revenue guidance and launched a $25 billion accelerated buyback, both of which should support investor confidence and share demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, adding a shareholder-return element that may appeal to income-focused investors.
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s presentation at the Jefferies Software, Internet & AI Conference kept attention on its AI roadmap, but no major new catalyst from that event was highlighted.
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports and analyst notes said the market remains unconvinced that Salesforce has fully addressed the “AI threat” narrative, with concerns that AI agents could pressure its core software model over time.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, Salesforce’s revenue outlook and backlog dynamics were seen as only modestly ahead or slightly below expectations, helping explain why the stock has remained subdued.
• Negative Sentiment: Wall Street largely kept a cautious tone after earnings, with multiple firms lowering price targets and some calling the results “uninspiring,” which may be weighing on the shares.

Salesforce declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 16th that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to purchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, with a total value of $500,265.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,854,347.40. This represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. The trade was a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,552,896,000 after purchasing an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,182,951,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Salesforce by 159.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,325,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,106,255,000 after buying an additional 10,636,161 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 130.2% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 924.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,883,610 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,028,807,000 after buying an additional 3,504,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.