Salesforce Inc. $CRM Position Increased by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 182,428 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,600 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $43,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,106 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations boosted its stake in Salesforce by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations now owns 43,767 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $10,373,000 after purchasing an additional 7,610 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 57.3% during the third quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,092 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $184.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $240.89 and its 200-day moving average is $243.60. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.81 and a 12-month high of $330.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha argues the pullback is a value opportunity: durable SaaS moat, large RPO, double-digit subscription growth and AI monetization support a bullish 18‑month target (~$330). Salesforce: Buy The Fear In Enterprise SaaS Durability
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat says AI disruption fears are overblown and lists Salesforce as a top SaaS name to buy on the dip, citing analyst Buy bias, outperformance on profit metrics, and catalysts from upcoming earnings/guidance. AI Disruption Overblown! 4 Software Stocks to Buy on the Dip
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters and strategists (e.g., JP Morgan) view the sector sell‑off as a buying opportunity created by overstated AI disruption fears—suggesting quality software names like Salesforce may recover as outlooks stabilize. AI disruption fears create buying chance in US software stocks, strategists say
• Neutral Sentiment: Barron’s highlights heavy short interest and the possibility of a short squeeze in software stocks—a technical catalyst that could produce a sharp rally even if fundamental AI concerns persist. Software Stocks Look Primed for a Short Squeeze
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks compares CRM with peers like Intuit for value investors—useful context but not an immediate catalyst; it frames CRM relative valuation and investor appetite. CRM vs. INTU: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Yahoo reports Salesforce is reshaping workforce and leadership as the company pushes into AI while facing weaker CRM returns—operational restructuring and leadership moves increase short‑term execution risk and may pressure sentiment. Salesforce Reshapes Workforce And Leadership As AI Push Meets Weak CRM Returns
• Negative Sentiment: More than 1,400 employees have signed a letter urging CEO Marc Benioff to drop potential ICE work after a controversial joke—public employee revolt and reputational scrutiny create near‑term PR and contract risk. Salesforce employees call on CEO Benioff to cancel ICE ‘opportunities’
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks notes CRM fell more than the broader market in the latest session (sharp intraday weakness), reflecting sensitivity to the sector sell‑off and headline risk. Here’s Why Salesforce.com (CRM) Fell More Than Broader Market

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.