Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Trading Down 1.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) traded down 1.3% on Thursday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $257.00 to $197.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Salesforce traded as low as $183.23 and last traded at $185.3540. 9,543,781 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 11,692,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.79.

CRM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, January 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.00.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha upgraded CRM to a Buy, arguing valuation looks compelling after AI‑driven SaaS weakness and highlighting Agentforce and potential Q4 catalysts like revenue acceleration and backlog expansion. Salesforce: Q4 Earnings Is An Opportunity To Silence The Bears (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks publishes a “buy the dip” case, noting CRM is technically oversold and that analysts have been revising estimates higher — a setup bulls say could produce a snapback. Down 15.3% in 4 Weeks, Here’s Why You Should You Buy the Dip in Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: UBS checks point to an uptick in Agentforce adoption (supporting AI recurring revenue growth), which could help reaccelerate sales if confirmed on the earnings call. Salesforce in focus as checks show uptick in Agentforce, ‘muted’ core growth: UBS
• Neutral Sentiment: AcuityMD launched an AcuityMD app on the Salesforce AppExchange — a modest partnership signal for ecosystem activity but not a material revenue driver near term. AcuityMD Announces AcuityMD for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks included Salesforce in a roundup of founder‑led companies with long‑term growth potential — supportive for sentiment but not an immediate catalyst. Founder-Led Powerhouses That Boast Durable Growth Potential
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity: traders bought ~131,990 put contracts (about +84% vs. average), signaling heightened downside hedging/speculation into the print — a clear near‑term negative flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: several firms trimmed targets or moved to neutral/hold (Citigroup cut target to $197; Wells Fargo lowered to $235/equal weight; RBC issued a Hold; Mizuho flagged a pessimistic outlook). Those calls, and headlines about a downgrade driving intraday weakness, are weighing on the stock. Benzinga: Analyst updates RBC Hold Mizuho Pessimistic Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Negative narratives in the press — pieces framing CRM as a laggard among mega‑cap tech/Dow names and discussing potential buyout dynamics (and governance hurdles) — add to risk‑off sentiment around the ticker. The Dow’s Biggest Losers of 2026 The Buyout Case for Salesforce

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Aspire Growth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $232.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.59. The company has a market capitalization of $173.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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