Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Jumps 2% – Should You Buy?

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shares rose 2% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $233.76 and last traded at $229.8420. Approximately 9,698,500 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 13,939,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.31.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Listen Labs, an AI-powered customer research and human-simulation platform. Its AI agents can design studies, conduct research and synthesize insights, potentially reducing work that traditionally takes months to a matter of days. The deal strengthens Salesforce’s AI capabilities and was the clearest near-term reason for the stock’s advance. Salesforce up after announcing Listen Labs acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce continued expanding its AI ecosystem. Stensul launched a governed content-creation beta within Marketing Cloud Next, while June AI joined the AgentExchange partner community. Enterprise controls and compliance features could make AI adoption easier for large customers. Salesforce deepens AI workflow governance
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce secured a potentially significant public-sector opportunity as the U.K.’s HMRC reportedly selected the company for a taxpayer customer-relationship-management overhaul valued at up to £2.4 billion. A contract of this scale would support long-term revenue visibility and demonstrate the durability of Salesforce’s enterprise franchise. HMRC Salesforce CRM overhaul
• Neutral Sentiment: Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating following a customer survey, suggesting continued confidence in Salesforce’s customer relationships and product adoption. However, the article provides limited new financial information. Oppenheimer reiterates outperform rating
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors remain concerned that Salesforce’s recent rally has raised expectations. Commentary points to the stock trading below its prior high but substantially above recent levels, meaning upcoming earnings and AI monetization must justify the valuation. A Diamond Hill investor letter also highlighted prior share-price weakness despite Salesforce’s durable franchise. Case for waiting on CRM stock

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Susquehanna initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.14.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.0%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $217.69 and its 200-day moving average is $191.00. The stock has a market cap of $189.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 11.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 43,398 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,790,000 after acquiring an additional 4,618 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden lifted its stake in Salesforce by 4,855.1% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 168,472 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,393,000 after purchasing an additional 165,072 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 117.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 315 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 184.5% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,983 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 11,663 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.