Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $398.00 to $287.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $176.50 and last traded at $176.3620, with a volume of 2448374 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $185.16.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Salesforce from $257.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.33.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Momentum, a conversational‑insights and revenue‑orchestration platform — the deal is expected to extend Agentforce 360 and Slackbot capabilities to ingest and analyze third‑party unstructured voice data, strengthening Salesforce’s AI/contact‑center stack and product monetization potential. Salesforce Inc (CRM) Expands AI Capabilities With Momentum Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/industry coverage highlights a large “agentic AI” opportunity for Salesforce — pieces argue Agentforce and other AI initiatives could be a multi‑year revenue tailwind if execution and GTM scale succeed. This supports a longer‑term growth narrative even as near‑term metrics are watched closely. Salesforce: Capitalizing On The Massive Agentic AI Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity shows elevated interest and provides a read on short‑term sentiment — Benzinga’s options deep dive notes concentrated positioning that can amplify moves into earnings, making volatility around the print more likely. Traders should watch skew and open interest for signals. Salesforce Options Trading: A Deep Dive into Market Sentiment
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre‑earnings preview: Zacks notes AI/cloud demand could push Q4 revenue toward ~$11.2B and that prior cost cuts may boost EPS, but outcome hinges on product uptake and guidance for FY27 — results/guidance will likely drive the next leg of the move. Can AI and Cloud Strength Keep Salesforce’s Growth on Track in Q4?
• Negative Sentiment: Major broker price‑target cuts surfaced ahead of Q4 results, which has pressured sentiment — several firms trimmed targets, signaling lower near‑term expectations and increasing downside risk if guidance disappoints. Big Salesforce Price Target Cuts Ahead of Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage flags that Salesforce’s AI agent push plus related job cuts are reframing the investment story toward automation‑driven efficiency — investors may view workforce reductions and restructuring as a sign management is prioritizing margins, which can be read positively or negatively depending on growth outlook. Did Salesforce’s (CRM) AI Agent Push and Job Cuts Just Recast Its Automation-Driven Investment Narrative?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was flagged in a broader report on executives exiting positions — while not definitive, increased insider sales can add to short‑term negative sentiment ahead of earnings. Sell… Sell… Sell… Another Eight Companies Insiders Are Exiting

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 143.7% in the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $497,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,548,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,282 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambient Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $508,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $229.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 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.