Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given “Buy” Rating at BTIG Research

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $255.00 price target on the CRM provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CRM. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $223.00 to $194.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.21.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $186.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $171.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.51.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the CRM provider to repurchase up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 2,570 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $194.62 per share, for a total transaction of $500,173.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,664,153.18. This represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,145.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,017 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 98.3% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,085,000 after purchasing an additional 10,633 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the third quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $44,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Salesforce by 15.1% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $113,420,000 after purchasing an additional 61,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 42.2% in the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $66,610,000 after buying an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company fundamentals and guidance remain supportive: Salesforce recently reported stronger-than-expected quarterly EPS and raised FY‑2027 guidance, underpinning confidence in cash generation and margins. Earnings & guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Accelerated $25B buyback: Analysts expect Salesforce to materially ramp repurchases in FY‑2027; a large, accelerated buyback reduces share count and supports EPS, a clear bullish catalyst. Salesforce asserts growth and cash trajectory with accelerated $25B buyback
• Positive Sentiment: AI product traction: Agentforce showing 169% ARR growth and strong deal flow, while Slack/Slackbot received a major AI feature boost — both support recurring revenue expansion and cross‑sell into Sales/Service clouds. These product wins help justify higher forward multiples. Agentforce AI growth Slack adds 30 AI features
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst and price-target moves: BTIG reaffirmed a Buy and set a $255 target, giving upside from current levels and supporting investor sentiment. BTIG buy rating $255 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Insiders/whale activity: Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater disclosed a minor reduction in its long-standing CRM stake; the move appears modest and more portfolio rebalancing than a conviction change. Dalio reduces holding
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry integrations: A compliance‑focused messaging partner launched a native integration for Marketing Cloud (helps adoption in regulated verticals but is incremental). Compliance messaging integration
• Negative Sentiment: Bear activity and sector skepticism: A noted short seller highlighted an “AI paradox” trade against Salesforce and other software names, and broader software sell‑offs this year keep downside risk if AI expectations disappoint. These narratives can pressure the stock despite company-level positives. Short seller activity Sector sell-off context

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.