JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Price Target to $320.00

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $365.00 to $320.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $281.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.06.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.5%

NYSE CRM opened at $194.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $182.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $303.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $223.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the second quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.4% during the second quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on profitability and AI traction — Non‑GAAP EPS came in at $3.81 (well above consensus) and management highlighted Agentforce/AI monetization as a growth driver, supporting the view that AI is adding commercial value. Revenue In Line With Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital‑return program — Salesforce raised its dividend and authorized a $50B buyback, signaling management confidence and improving EPS leverage if executed. That buyback is a clear near‑term support for the share price. AI Bet & Buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term targets updated — Management lifted multiyear ambitions (targeting roughly $63B revenue by FY2030) and kept FY27 EPS guidance in a tight range; this supports the long‑term bull case but leaves near‑term pacing ambiguous. FY30 Target & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance and metrics disappointed some — cRPO and other cloud momentum measures were only in‑line, and commentary implied a mid‑year slowdown before AI‑driven reacceleration, which hurt investor confidence. Jefferies on Near‑Term Slowdown
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and mixed ratings — Several banks trimmed price targets (examples: Sanford Bernstein, TD Cowen, RBC, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson) or issued neutral/underperform stances, increasing short‑term selling pressure as models were reset. Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over AI impact persists — Coverage highlights that some investors still worry AI could compress SaaS economics despite management’s assurances, creating continued volatility in CRM shares. 3 Reasons Earnings Failed to Impress

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.