Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 260,710 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 897,917 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 260,710 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 0.8% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $212,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $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 purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after buying an additional 1,612,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,931,945 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,072,202,000 after buying an additional 1,234,969 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on CRM despite sector weakness; multiple broker notes and aggregate analyst bias continue to support a “moderate buy” view, giving upward support to the shares. Analysts stay constructive on Salesforce (CRM) despite sector weakness
• Positive Sentiment: Several market pieces argue AI fears are overblown and list Salesforce as a buy-on-the-dip candidate — framing the recent sell-off as sentiment-driven and highlighting CRM’s scale, recurring revenue, and AI integrations as recovery catalysts. AI Disruption Overblown! 4 Software Stocks to Buy on the Dip
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other value-screen articles flag CRM as attractive on valuation/score metrics, reinforcing the narrative that the pullback is creating a value entry point for longer-term investors. Salesforce.com (CRM) is a Top-Ranked Value Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: New AI-focused startups are rolling out CRM-adjacent tools (Aurasell’s AI-native OS) that could alter go-to-market workflows — a potential long-term competitive variable but not an immediate earnings shock. Aurasell Launches World’s First AI-Native OS to Run Intelligent GTM Workflows on Any CRM
• Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion on lists of software rebound candidates and mentions by large banks/analysts (e.g., Morgan Stanley lists) supports market attention; these are constructive but depend on broader sector sentiment stabilizing. These 5 Software Stocks Could Double in Price This Year, Says Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Employee backlash after a reported joke about ICE and a petition demanding CEO Marc Benioff cut ties with ICE introduce reputational risk and internal distraction; over 1,400 employees signed a letter — this social governance issue is pressuring sentiment. Salesforce employees call on CEO Benioff to cancel ICE ‘opportunities’
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Salesforce is reshaping workforce and leadership as its AI push meets weak CRM returns point to near-term execution and cost-pressure concerns that can weigh on guidance and margins. Salesforce Reshapes Workforce And Leadership As AI Push Meets Weak CRM Returns
• Negative Sentiment: Recent sell-offs and sector-wide AI fears have driven sharp volatility; short-interest and downdrafts in software peers amplify downside risk until earnings/outlook clarity returns. Here’s Why Salesforce.com (CRM) Fell More Than Broader Market

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.57.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $185.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $239.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $180.24 and a 12-month high of $330.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce 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.