Salesforce popped on Tuesday after activist investor Starboard Value disclosed that it has taken a stake in the enterprise software maker. CRM stock had retreated 40% in 2022 amid a broad sell-off in the software sector.
In an interview with CNBC, Starboard founder Jeff Smith didn't disclose the size of the hedge fund's stake in CRM stock. Smith said he aims to improve Salesforce's profit margins, which lag other big software companies.
Salesforce stock climbed 4.3% to close at 153.53 on the stock market today.
In recent years, Starboard has targeted health care firm Cerner, now owned by Oracle; Papa John's International; Bristol-Myers Squibb and chipmaker Marvell Technology.
$10 Billion CRM Stock Buyback
Salesforce has made a lot acquisitions of its own, most recently Slack Technologies, a maker of workplace collaboration software.
Salesforce sells software under a subscription model. Its software helps businesses organize and handle sales operations and customer relationships. The company has expanded into marketing, e-commerce and data analytics.
The enterprise software maker recently announced a $10 billion buyback for CRM stock.
According to IBD Stock Checkup, CRM stock currently has a Relative Strength Rating of 24 out of a best-possible 99. The best stocks tend to have ratings of 80 and above.
Low Ratings For Salesforce
CRM stock holds an IBD Composite Rating of 49 out of a best possible 99.
IBD's Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary ratings into one easy-to-use rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
In addition, CRM stock has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of D. The rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading.
The rating, on an A+ to E scale, measures institutional buying and selling in a stock. A+ signifies heavy institutional buying; E means heavy selling. Think of the C grade as neutral.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
