DA Davidson Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock Price

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at DA Davidson from $235.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the CRM provider’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.84% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CRM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $257.00 to $197.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.06.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $194.47 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $182.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce has a 1-year low of $174.57 and a 1-year high of $303.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $223.98 and its 200 day moving average is $238.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.28% and a net margin of 17.96%.The firm had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 forecast that Salesforce will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on profitability and AI traction — Non‑GAAP EPS came in at $3.81 (well above consensus) and management highlighted Agentforce/AI monetization as a growth driver, supporting the view that AI is adding commercial value. Revenue In Line With Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital‑return program — Salesforce raised its dividend and authorized a $50B buyback, signaling management confidence and improving EPS leverage if executed. That buyback is a clear near‑term support for the share price. AI Bet & Buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term targets updated — Management lifted multiyear ambitions (targeting roughly $63B revenue by FY2030) and kept FY27 EPS guidance in a tight range; this supports the long‑term bull case but leaves near‑term pacing ambiguous. FY30 Target & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance and metrics disappointed some — cRPO and other cloud momentum measures were only in‑line, and commentary implied a mid‑year slowdown before AI‑driven reacceleration, which hurt investor confidence. Jefferies on Near‑Term Slowdown
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and mixed ratings — Several banks trimmed price targets (examples: Sanford Bernstein, TD Cowen, RBC, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson) or issued neutral/underperform stances, increasing short‑term selling pressure as models were reset. Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over AI impact persists — Coverage highlights that some investors still worry AI could compress SaaS economics despite management’s assurances, creating continued volatility in CRM shares. 3 Reasons Earnings Failed to Impress

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.