Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Salesforce Put Options (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 131,990 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 84% compared to the typical daily volume of 71,650 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.00.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce showing early revenue momentum — Zacks highlights that Salesforce’s Agentforce AI platform drove a large recurring-revenue surge (reported ~330% in Q3 FY26) and could reignite sales growth if adoption continues. Salesforce Bets on Agentforce: Will It Power CRM’s Next Growth Cycle?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade highlights valuation edge — Seeking Alpha reports a rating upgrade to Buy, arguing CRM’s valuation is compelling after the AI-driven SaaS selloff and that Q4 results could show accelerating revenue and clearer AI-driven profitability levers. Salesforce: Q4 Earnings Is An Opportunity To Silence The Bears (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Technicals/Wall Street viewpoint: “buy the dip” case — Zacks notes CRM is technically oversold and that analysts have been revising earnings estimates higher, a setup some traders see as ripe for a reversal. Down 15.3% in 4 Weeks, Here’s Why You Should You Buy the Dip in Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Founder-led credibility cited — Zacks includes Salesforce among founder-led companies with durable growth potential, which can support investor confidence over the long term. Founder-Led Powerhouses That Boast Durable Growth Potential
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner/market development — AcuityMD launched an app on Salesforce AppExchange, showing ecosystem demand but limited near-term financial impact. AcuityMD Announces AcuityMD for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer-comparison questions — Forbes asks if Salesforce is losing ground to faster-scaling AI rivals; useful context but not new fundamentals. Is Salesforce Stock Losing Ground To Its AI Rivals?
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cutting targets and issuing neutral/hold calls — Citi trimmed its price target to $197 and moved to Neutral, and other shops (Wells Fargo, RBC, BTIG actions reported) have reduced upside, increasing near-term selling pressure. This is a primary driver of today’s weakness. Citigroup Lowers Price Target on Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Broader selloff and bearish notes — Mizuho and other outlets published pessimistic takes and there are headlines highlighting CRM as one of the Dow’s YTD laggards; combined with AI SaaS fears, that amplifies downside momentum. Mizuho Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $2.44 on Thursday, hitting $185.35. 9,545,346 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,692,620. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $233.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $180.24 and a 1-year high of $324.45.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought 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 directly 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. 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.