Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 689,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 161,920 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 0.5% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $163,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $23,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387 shares during the period. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $1,458,000. Advyzon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 57.4% during the second quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 78.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 43,186 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $10,235,000 after purchasing an additional 18,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.5% in the second quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $56,342,000 after purchasing an additional 16,176 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. The trade was a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 145,427 shares of company stock valued at $34,290,361. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of CRM opened at $228.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $213.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.96 and a 12 month high of $367.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $247.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.84. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators say Salesforce’s Agentforce integrations and broader “agentic AI” strategy could materially alter the bull case if they drive strong adoption and Data Cloud monetization. This is being read as a potential catalyst for revenue re-acceleration. The Bull Case For Salesforce (CRM) Could Change Following Its Agentic AI Push With Agentforce Integrations
• Positive Sentiment: Retail investor interest has surged on social platforms after a ~32% decline in share price, with some traders calling a bottom — that sentiment can increase buying pressure and support near-term rallies. After a 32% Reckoning In Shares, Investors Are Calling The Salesforce Bottom. It’s Time To Rally | CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Technical analysts note CRM is trading inside a historical support range where past rebounds occurred, making it a potential buying opportunity for value-oriented and tactical traders. Is Salesforce Stock At A Key Buying Opportunity?
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on AI investing (including takes inspired by Andrew Ng) highlights the broader theme that AI apps remain underinvested — a tailwind for CRM as a major enterprise AI platform, though it’s a thematic rather than company-specific catalyst. Andrew Ng Thinks AI Apps are “Underinvested”—Here are the Stocks I’d Buy in Response
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst pieces note the Agentic AI push could reignite growth but emphasize execution risk — meaning the long-term upside depends on adoption and measurable revenue lift from Agentforce and Data Cloud. Salesforce Bets on Agentic AI: Will It Reignite CRM’s Revenue Growth?
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile coverage (including Jim Cramer) highlights Salesforce’s seat-based model and the company’s recent struggles; combined with the >30% Y/Y share decline, those points keep downside risk and skepticism elevated until growth visibly improves. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Seat Model

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $340.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $335.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.51.

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.