Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 2.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 2.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $257.00 to $197.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $183.17 and last traded at $184.21. 13,665,407 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average session volume of 11,818,001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.72.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CRM. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New and expanded partner integrations (AcuityMD on AppExchange; Asymbl collaboration) boost product stickiness and go-to-market reach, supporting revenue upside from AI-enabled workflows. AcuityMD Announces AcuityMD for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange Asymbl Announces Expanded Collaboration with Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces highlighting expanding AI partnerships and valuation support give investors conviction that Salesforce can monetize agent/AI demand as enterprise spending rebalances. Assessing Salesforce (CRM) Valuation As AI Partnerships Expand And Analyst Support Builds Ahead Of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Company is entering earnings season — recent commentary and previews (Zacks) show mixed odds for a material beat; investors are positioning ahead of the print. Salesforce.com (CRM) Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy? Salesforce (CRM) Projected to Post Earnings on Wednesday
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms trimmed price targets or moved to neutral/equal-weight (Citigroup lowered to $197 neutral; Wells Fargo cut to $235 equal weight; RBC issued a Hold), which creates headline pressure and reduces near-term analyst-driven demand. Salesforce (CRM) Receives a Hold from RBC Capital Analyst Coverage Changes (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-level AI fears — coverage of a broader “SaaSpocalypse” and weak guidance at peers (Palo Alto Networks) are pressuring software stocks generally and can drag CRM despite company-specific wins. Palo Alto shares sink 8%, CEO defends cybersecurity’s position as AI hits software stocks ServiceNow Insiders Buy as Wall Street Panics Over an AI SaaSpocalypse
• Neutral Sentiment: Checks from UBS point to an uptick in Agentforce but “muted” core growth — mixed operational signals that could lead to a range-bound reaction to the upcoming report. Salesforce in focus as checks show uptick in Agentforce, ‘muted’ core growth: UBS

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

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 fifty day simple moving average of $233.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.98. The stock has a market cap of $176.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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