Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,054,002 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,551 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.25% of Salesforce worth $471,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 6,422 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 3,396 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its holdings in Salesforce by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 1,549 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. The trade was a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Bank of America upgraded Salesforce from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.98.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $228.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $238.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.88. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11. The firm has a market cap of $188.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 16.04%.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Rune Technologies, a defense-technology company. The deal supports Salesforce’s push into military and government applications, potentially expanding its addressable market and adding a specialized technology platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Rune Technologies
• Positive Sentiment: TPM Holdings completed an 18-month realignment centered on Salesforce CRM and artificial intelligence for the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Its combination of TrebleHook and The Hunley Group could expand Salesforce-based implementations and demonstrate growing demand for industry-specific AI tools. TPM Holdings Accelerates Investment in AI and Salesforce CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Several analyst and investment articles describe Salesforce as a potential AI rebound candidate, citing autonomous AI agents, improving monetization, strong free cash flow and its leadership in customer relationship management. These views may support longer-term sentiment, although they are not new company guidance. AI Comeback Story Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce’s earnings report is approaching, making upcoming revenue growth, AI adoption, margins and forward guidance the main near-term catalysts. The company’s latest reported quarter included revenue of $11.35 billion and adjusted earnings that exceeded consensus estimates. Salesforce Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce declined in sympathy with ServiceNow, Fortinet and other software stocks after investors focused on slower contracted-revenue growth despite earnings beats and higher AI targets. The reaction has renewed concerns about enterprise-software demand, AI monetization timelines and elevated sector valuations. ServiceNow Results Dent Software Stocks

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company’s products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.