QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,580 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 48,074 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $31,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scott & Selber Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the second quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 5,850 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in Salesforce by 6.9% in the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 607 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% in the second quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $227.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.96 and a 1 year high of $367.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 152,177 shares of company stock valued at $36,015,774 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise validation for Agentforce — World Economic Forum will use an Agentforce‑powered assistant at Davos, boosting visibility for Salesforce’s agentic platform and enterprise adoption case. World Economic Forum and Salesforce Empower Global Leaders
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial expansion in healthcare — Viz.ai announced a real‑time clinical intelligence integration for Agentforce Life Sciences, which can increase addressable market and use‑case monetization if adoption scales. Viz.ai and Salesforce Collaborate
• Positive Sentiment: Product traction and bullish commentary — Slackbot revamp is generally available and on‑air analysts/guests (Phil Palumbo) call Salesforce “nothing broken” about its business at a discounted price, supporting a recovery narrative. Salesforce makes revamped Slackbot generally available Palumbo video
• Neutral Sentiment: Large institutional holders remain heavily invested (Vanguard, State Street, etc.), which provides ownership stability but is not an immediate catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and valuation write‑ups note attractive long‑term cash‑flow multiples and Agentforce upside; useful for longer‑term investors but not a short‑term trigger. Seeking Alpha piece
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually heavy put buying — roughly 157k put contracts traded (about +144% vs. normal), a direct bearish signal that likely amplified selling and hedging flows intraday.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Director Neelie Kroes sold ~3,893 shares (~$929k) on Jan. 14; insider sales often add short‑term pressure even when not indicative of company fundamentals. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Sector/AI fears — coverage and headlines (e.g., “Claude Code” and MarketBeat pieces) argue agentic AI could cannibalize high‑margin human‑driven SaaS revenue, fueling sentiment that CRM names may lose licensing growth. AOL: Why Salesforce stock is already down MarketBeat: 3 Stocks to Avoid

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Capmk lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.51.

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.