Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price Up 2.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s share price was up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $250.00 to $300.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $268.27 and last traded at $264.13. 14,912,342 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 14,094,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.93.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CRM. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (up from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.50.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership strengthens AI outlook: Salesforce and Anthropic launched “Claudeforce,” integrating Anthropic’s Claude AI into Salesforce’s ecosystem. The offering is viewed as a potential source of new revenue, improved customer reach and validation that enterprise AI needs established software platforms. Salesforce partners with Anthropic to integrate Claude AI into its ecosystem
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and higher guidance boosted confidence: Salesforce reported $11.35 billion in quarterly revenue, up 10.8% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share versus the $3.27 consensus estimate. Current remaining performance obligations rose 14%, while the company raised its fiscal-year outlook, reinforcing the case that Agentforce and Data 360 are gaining traction. Salesforce: Proving That AI Needs A Software Partner
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts became more constructive: BTIG said it was increasingly confident in improving business trends, while Needham, BTIG, Cantor Fitzgerald and Argus maintained or reiterated positive ratings and set price targets ranging from $300 to $400. These targets imply additional upside from the referenced $266.42 price. BTIG says it is incrementally confident in improving business trends
• Neutral Sentiment: Enterprise-software sector rebound: Salesforce is participating in a wider rotation back into enterprise AI and software stocks, partly reflecting the unwinding of bearish positions. This improves near-term sentiment but may not be specific to Salesforce’s fundamentals. Jim Cramer breaks down the enterprise software rebound
• Negative Sentiment: Execution expectations are rising: Following the sharp rally and repeated guidance increases, Salesforce must demonstrate sustained revenue acceleration and successful AI monetization. Failure to meet those expectations could limit further gains or trigger profit-taking. Salesforce raised guidance again and now has to deliver revenue acceleration

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC boosted its position in Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $217.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.