Tredje AP fonden Cuts Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Tredje AP fonden decreased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 266,703 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 128,208 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $63,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.89.

Salesforce News Summary

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 Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $185.10 on Friday. 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 $180.24 and a 1 year high of $318.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.13. The firm has a market cap of $173.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 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 business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. The company’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 fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.