Parnassus Investments LLC Grows Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 48.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,678,073 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,203,261 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 2.0% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.39% of Salesforce worth $871,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% in the second quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 383.3% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlighted five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM for 2026, arguing Salesforce has an attractive AI/cloud runway that could make it a top trade this year. MarketBeat: Five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM
• Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool and 247WallStreet pieces both profile Salesforce as underappreciated on AI upside — suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in its “agentic AI” roadmap or potential enterprise expansion. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case. Fool: Should you forget Palantir and buy these 2 tech stocks? 247WallSt: 2 Stocks That Don’t Have Enough AI Priced In
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — AmericanBankingNews reports an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” That supports investor confidence despite recent weakness. Salesforce receives average recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer has Salesforce on his radar, drawing attention to the company amid sector turmoil; coverage like this can add visibility but is not a direct catalyst. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Business
• Neutral Sentiment: The Globe and Mail highlighted a Zacks feature that mentions Salesforce alongside Adobe as notable ideas — more media/analyst attention that reinforces the stock’s profile. Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Adobe and Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance flags that Salesforce’s AI revenue base is still small and that rising API costs could pressure margins — that raises the risk that the company’s margin story may be weaker than investors expect. Did Salesforce’s Small AI Revenue Base and Higher API Costs Just Recast Its Margin Story?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets emphasize CRM’s ~18–20% drop over the past year — headline pieces questioning whether the stock is still a hold add selling pressure and keep sentiment cautious. Salesforce Plunges 20% in a Year
• Negative Sentiment: Short news blurbs (MSN/headlines) noting that CRM is sinking while broader markets gain amplify the perception of underperformance versus peers. Salesforce.com (CRM) stock sinks as market gains

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. This trade represents a 49.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. This represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 155,034 shares of company stock worth $36,726,584. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $260.03 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.96 and a 52 week high of $367.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $250.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.68.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Northland Capmk lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.74.

About Salesforce

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.