Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,810,635 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 853,160 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 2.5% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $903,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $431,157,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings and market reaction — Salesforce reported an earnings beat and record revenue, and the stock has rebounded from recent lows as investors appear to be looking past worst‑case AI fears. This is the main driver of improving sentiment. Salesforce: A Week After Earnings, the Market Has Spoken
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback and cash flow strength — Analysts highlight a meaningful free cash flow beat and Salesforce’s announcement of a massive $50B buyback, which can materially support share price and EPS over time. Salesforce: AI Disruption Fears Create Mispricing
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish price targets — Multiple firms have reiterated or raised ratings (e.g., Phillip Securities maintained a Buy with a $253 target), helping lift investor confidence. Upgrades/price‑target moves are directly supportive of the rally. Phillip Securities Maintains a Buy on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum and partnerships — New AI initiatives (Agentforce) and a Formula 1 fan‑agent rollout show tangible go‑to‑market AI use cases that support long‑term monetization of AI features. Salesforce Inc. (CRM) Leverages AI to Transform Fan and Customer Engagement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry writeups highlight momentum and valuation — Several outlets (Zacks) list Salesforce among software names positioned to benefit from a sector recovery; these articles boost visibility but provide less immediate price impact than earnings or buybacks. The Software Recovery Already Started: 5 Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Geographic expansion — Reports noting the Philippines as a fast‑growing market signal incremental revenue opportunities but are less likely to move the stock near term. Philippines fastest-growing market for Salesforce in Southeast Asia
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing AI disruption and valuation concerns — Despite improving signals, investors remain wary that AI could compress demand or enable lower‑cost competitors; the stock still reflects a material YTD and 1‑year decline, keeping downside risk present. Is Salesforce (CRM) Pricing Reflect Its Cash Flow Outlook After Recent Share Price Weakness

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $202.04 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $217.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $296.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Salesforce from $398.00 to $287.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.14.

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.