Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Down 1.9% Following Insider Selling

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares dropped 1.9% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $257.82 and last traded at $259.39. Approximately 10,332,259 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 14,082,657 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.43.

Specifically, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Barclays lifted their target price on Salesforce from $236.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.50.

Key Salesforce News

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 Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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. The company has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% in the 1st quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 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.