Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,712,974 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 11,450 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $642,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 27,361.5% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Salesforce by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,931,945 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,072,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,969 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Trading Down 0.2%
Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $260.03 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $250.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.43. The company has a market cap of $243.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.96 and a 1 year high of $367.09.
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 paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Northland Capmk cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.74.
Get Our Latest Research Report on CRM
Salesforce News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlighted five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM for 2026, arguing Salesforce has an attractive AI/cloud runway that could make it a top trade this year. MarketBeat: Five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM
- Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool and 247WallStreet pieces both profile Salesforce as underappreciated on AI upside — suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in its “agentic AI” roadmap or potential enterprise expansion. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case. Fool: Should you forget Palantir and buy these 2 tech stocks? 247WallSt: 2 Stocks That Don’t Have Enough AI Priced In
- Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — AmericanBankingNews reports an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” That supports investor confidence despite recent weakness. Salesforce receives average recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
- Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer has Salesforce on his radar, drawing attention to the company amid sector turmoil; coverage like this can add visibility but is not a direct catalyst. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Business
- Neutral Sentiment: The Globe and Mail highlighted a Zacks feature that mentions Salesforce alongside Adobe as notable ideas — more media/analyst attention that reinforces the stock’s profile. Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Adobe and Salesforce
- Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance flags that Salesforce’s AI revenue base is still small and that rising API costs could pressure margins — that raises the risk that the company’s margin story may be weaker than investors expect. Did Salesforce’s Small AI Revenue Base and Higher API Costs Just Recast Its Margin Story?
- Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets emphasize CRM’s ~18–20% drop over the past year — headline pieces questioning whether the stock is still a hold add selling pressure and keep sentiment cautious. Salesforce Plunges 20% in a Year
- Negative Sentiment: Short news blurbs (MSN/headlines) noting that CRM is sinking while broader markets gain amplify the perception of underperformance versus peers. Salesforce.com (CRM) stock sinks as market gains
Insider Transactions at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 152,784 shares of company stock worth $36,173,287 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.
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.
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