Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Downgraded to Market Perform Rating by Northland Securities

Northland Securities lowered shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $264.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CRM. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Salesforce from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson raised Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.22.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $239.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $244.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.36. The company has a market cap of $228.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.13%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.45, for a total transaction of $532,012.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,490,962.95. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. The trade was a 801.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,572,233. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 260.0% in the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.