Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Purchased by Vulcan Value Partners LLC

Vulcan Value Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 46.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,564,357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 496,033 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 6.7% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $371,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,017 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 98.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,085,000 after buying an additional 10,633 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $44,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $113,420,000 after acquiring an additional 61,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,610,000 after acquiring an additional 83,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho keeps an Outperform rating on CRM, signaling continued analyst conviction that Salesforce can outperform peers as AI adoption supports growth. Mizuho Maintains an Outperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha upgrade frames the upcoming Q4 print as an opportunity to “silence the bears,” highlighting potential revenue acceleration, expanding backlog and clearer AI-driven sales/expense dynamics that could re-rate the stock if delivered. Salesforce: Q4 Earnings Is An Opportunity To Silence The Bears (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Sector evidence: beaten-down software names (RingCentral, Five9) rallied after earnings that showed AI strengthening bookings — a sign that positive AI proofs could lift Salesforce if its own AI products (Agentforce, generative solutions) show similar commercial traction. Beaten-down software stocks RingCentral and Five9 rally as earnings quell some AI concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks previews the Q4 print and urges focus beyond headline EPS/revenue — metrics like backlog, billings mix and AI subscription uptake will matter, making the upcoming report a data-driven catalyst rather than a simple beat/miss story. Salesforce (CRM) Q4 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets note elevated investor attention and mixed analyst views — increased coverage raises volatility around the earnings print but doesn’t resolve direction until results and guidance arrive. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: BMO cut its price target from $275 to $235 (still “Outperform”), which reduces upside expectations and signals more cautious near-term valuation assumptions. salesforce.com (CRM) PT Lowered to $235 at BMO Capital
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG trimmed its price target to $260, and RBC moved to a Hold — more downward pressure from sell-side revisions that can sap momentum ahead of the quarter. BTIG Research Lowers Salesforce Price Target to $260 Salesforce (CRM) Receives a Hold from RBC Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying was recorded (roughly 132k puts), indicating elevated hedging or bearish spec positions that increase downside risk and implied volatility into earnings. (reported trading flow)

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $185.10 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $230.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.24 and a twelve month high of $318.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.89.

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.