Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 6.2% – Should You Sell?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was down 6.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $208.78 and last traded at $213.9320. Approximately 18,409,077 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 93% from the average daily volume of 9,538,588 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.51.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.52.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 138,677 shares of company stock valued at $32,566,029 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.