Share Buyback Plan Approved by Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Board of Directors

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $198.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $182.87 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $209.31 and its 200 day moving average is $234.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Salesforce has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Northland Securities dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce commenced a historic $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR), delivering ~103 million shares as the initial prepayment — the company says this is the largest-ever ASR and represents immediate execution of half of a $50 billion aggregate repurchase authorization. This reduces float and signals management confidence. Salesforce Commences Largest-Ever $25 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase — BusinessWire
• Positive Sentiment: The Board authorized a $25 billion share-repurchase plan (up to ~14.1% of shares) via open-market purchases, reinforcing the buyback commitment and suggesting the board views the shares as undervalued. RTT News — Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets flagged the ASR launch and framed it as the largest in history, which drew buying interest and headlines boosting sentiment around Salesforce’s AI-led growth strategy paired with a large capital-return program. Salesforce commences $25B share buyback amid AI growth focus — Seeking Alpha
• Positive Sentiment: Independent coverage reports the stock climbed on the historic $25B ASR launch, amplifying momentum from the buyback news. Blockonomi — Salesforce Stock Climbs on Historic $25B ASR
• Positive Sentiment: Notable value investors showed interest in recent quarters, with coverage noting portfolio purchases (e.g., Bill Nygren) that can lend credibility to the long case. 247WallSt — Bill Nygren Bought These Value Gems
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and retail interest pieces note heavy search and discussion around CRM and summarize bullish theses from forums and retail research — useful for gauging retail momentum but not a direct catalyst. Zacks — Investors Heavily Search Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces recap bullish value arguments and forum-based theses on whether CRM is a buy; these provide context but largely echo the buyback and AI-growth story. Yahoo Finance — Is Salesforce A Good Stock To Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: J.P. Morgan published an options-focused piece outlining trading strategies around geopolitical uncertainty (Iran) that references CRM as an options play; this is tactical market commentary rather than fundamental company news. Seeking Alpha — J.P. Morgan Options Play

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.