Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded up 1.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $245.18 and last traded at $243.8620. 5,392,578 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 7,715,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Twenty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.23.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.4%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $246.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $232.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 67,622 shares of company stock valued at $16,714,561 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $484,852,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP raised its holdings in Salesforce by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 37,740 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,944,000 after buying an additional 10,653 shares during the period. One Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 67,980 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,111,000 after buying an additional 5,531 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 24.7% in the third quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 62,197 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after buying an additional 12,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 119,030 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,210,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.