Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Shares Up 1.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) shot up 1.7% during trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $197.00 to $200.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as high as $198.67 and last traded at $196.24. 13,117,866 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 12,578,210 shares. The stock had previously closed at $192.95.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is using its Formula 1 partnership to showcase Agentforce (AI agents) and illustrate how large-brand marketing can accelerate adoption and commercial awareness for its AI offerings. This supports Salesforce’s narrative of shifting from seat‑based software to “digital labor” revenue potential. Salesforce Uses Formula 1 Deal To Showcase Agentforce AI Growth Potential
• Positive Sentiment: Company messaging and product launches (Agentforce for Communications, new partnerships such as Asymbl and GoDaddy integrating MuleSoft) reinforce a strategic pivot to AI agents and higher‑value workflows — a growth narrative that can support longer‑term revenue re‑rating if adoption scales. Salesforce Recasts Growth Story Around AI Agents And Capital Returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and market commentary is revisiting CRM’s valuation after recent share weakness; pieces outline arguments both for continued undervaluation and for cautious outlooks depending on AI conversion speed and margin mix. This drives trading volatility but not a clear directional signal. A Look At Salesforce (CRM) Valuation After Recent Share Price Weakness And Undervaluation Debate
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s Morgan Stanley TMT conference presentation (transcript) reiterates strategy, product roadmap and capital‑return priorities — useful for modelers but no new guidance that materially changes near‑term estimates. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) Presents at Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026 Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting CRM as a “trending” stock and other media explainers (Zacks, TheStreet) increase attention but present mixed analyst actions and viewpoints — attention can lift liquidity but also amplify sell‑side target changes. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner ecosystem activity: Faye’s acquisition of CRM Science (a Salesforce partner) underscores ecosystem consolidation and reseller dynamics — generally supportive of services demand but not directly material to revenue guidance. Faye Acquires CRM Science, Award Winning Salesforce Partner
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler trimmed its price target to $250 (from $280) despite maintaining an Overweight rating — analyst downgrades or target cuts increase near‑term downside risk by lowering benchmarks investors use to value CRM. Piper Sandler Cuts Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) Price Target to $250 from $280
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage highlighting startups and AI tools building bespoke CRMs signals a competitive threat: AI‑native vendors could displace legacy vendors in some segments faster than expected, pressuring growth and pricing power. Meet the Companies Vibe Coding Their Own CRMs

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.25%.

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.