Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Boosts Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 501,441 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 38,586 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $118,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 208.6% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSN reports Salesforce has strengthened its outlook by leaning into AI and closing large deals that underscore enterprise demand for its AI-native CRM stack. This reinforces management’s narrative that AI is a growth driver, not just a risk. Salesforce Inc (CRM) strengthens outlook with AI and big deals
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat argues analysts view the sell-off as overdone and highlight upside (15%–70% range across targets). Institutional accumulation and re-inclusion in AI-focused ETFs are cited as technical/supportive factors that could sustain a rebound. Why Analysts Still See Big Upside in Salesforce After the SaaS Scare
• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha emphasizes the “SaaS apocalypse” narrative is overblown and highlights Agentforce adoption (reported ~$550M ARR, ~18k customers) as proof Salesforce can monetize AI and deepen multi-cloud deals. That bolsters the thesis that AI augments subscription revenue rather than destroys it. Salesforce Isn’t Going Anywhere. The SaaS Apocalypse Is Overdone
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks profiles Salesforce as a strong growth stock under several style-score frameworks, supporting the buy case for growth/momentum investors. Here’s Why Salesforce.com (CRM) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Partner/market validation: recent press releases from CRMIT and KPIT launching AI/industry solutions on Salesforce’s platform show ecosystem adoption and drive higher ARPU potential for customers embedding Salesforce AI. CRMIT Solutions Launches Case InsAIghts on Salesforce AgentExchange KPIT launches VRM on Salesforce
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat’s roundup of “5 software stocks” frames the sector sell-off as a valuation reset: Salesforce’s multiple looks cheaper, but the piece also reminds investors the sector remains volatile as AI adoption and monetization timing are uncertain. 5 Software Stocks That Look Too Cheap to Ignore (CRM)
• Neutral Sentiment: Yahoo and other outlets flag Feb. 25 as an important date (Q4 fiscal 2026 results/guidance) — a potential catalyst that could either validate the bullish narrative (AI-driven acceleration) or re-test the sell-off thesis. Dear Salesforce Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for February 25
• Neutral Sentiment: MSN and other post-earnings commentary debate buy/hold/sell following Q3 results — consensus is mixed but leans toward buy-on-dip if guidance and Agentforce uptake show clear traction. Salesforce (CRM): Buy, sell, or hold post Q3 earnings?

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Mizuho set a $340.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $189.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.24 and a 1 year high of $329.74. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

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.