Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-four brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, twenty-nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $326.6842.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares (22% increase to his stake), signaling insider confidence in the company’s outlook; insider purchases often reassure investors about management’s view of valuation and prospects. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan argues the market is underestimating Salesforce’s AI opportunity — calling CRM “priced like a value stock” while AI-driven monetization ramps, which supports the thesis for re-rating if AI revenue acceleration materializes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI marketing firm Qualified, expanding its agentic/AI marketing stack and potentially creating cross-sell and product monetization opportunities within Marketing Cloud and Agentforce. Strategic tuck-ins can accelerate ARR and AI feature adoption. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG initiated coverage with a Buy and $335 target (roughly ~29% upside from current levels), adding upward analyst momentum and providing buy-side validation for CRM’s AI-led rebound thesis. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce remains a focus on market watchlists (Zacks note) and broader software sector recaps benchmark CRM performance; attention can boost liquidity but doesn’t change fundamentals immediately. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat/others note Salesforce’s recent EPS beat and guidance pointing to 2026 acceleration; that underpins the bullish narrative but is already partly reflected in sentiment and analyst revisions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reduced its price target on CRM, a reminder that some sell-side desks remain cautious on near-term multiples and execution risk — this can temper rallies and add upside resistance until proofs of AI monetization appear. Read More.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 173,034 shares of company stock valued at $41,097,367 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% in the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $259.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $246.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Salesforce has a one year low of $221.96 and a one year high of $367.09. The firm has a market cap of $243.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

About Salesforce

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.