Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Decreased by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 231,414 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,681 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $56,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 13,498 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $5,634,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $732,000. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 50,144 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,884,000 after buying an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 19.2% in the third quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,656 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Buy and a $330 price target, highlighting a sizable upside and signaling institutional endorsement that could support a multi-quarter re-rate. The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce made its revamped Slackbot (Agentforce/Slack integration) generally available, using Anthropic models to provide context-aware workplace agents — a concrete product rollout that advances its AI monetization strategy. Salesforce Announces the General Availability of Slackbot
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party developer/ISV integration: Gryphon AI launched “Gryphon ONE for Salesforce,” expanding ecosystem AI tools that could drive higher contract values and stickier customer relationships. Gryphon AI Introduces Gryphon ONE for Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/market narrative is turning more favorable in AI-focused pieces (MarketBeat and Seeking Alpha bullish takes), reinforcing expectations that Salesforce’s cross-cloud + Agentforce strategy can re-accelerate growth. Salesforce Stock Is Mispriced – Reiterate Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor primer/analyst discussion: Zacks and MarketBeat pieces examine whether initiatives like Data 360 and Agentforce can offset slowing top-line momentum — useful context but not immediate catalysts. Can Salesforce’s Data 360 Push Drive Its Next Phase of Sales Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate presentation/transcript from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference provides additional color on vertical strategy and product adoption but is informational rather than market-moving. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) Presents at 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting today’s selling pressure and a deep-dive “why shares are plunging” story points to investor concerns: slowing revenue growth, mixed near-term execution vs. elevated valuation, and short-term profit-taking after a prior run-up. Why Salesforce (CRM) shares are plunging today

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $240.95 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $225.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.96 and a 12 month high of $367.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. This represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,534 shares of company stock valued at $35,636,954. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Capmk lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.50.

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.