Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $177.11 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 42.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 747,205 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 221,268 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $177,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 11.5% during the third quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 11,474 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 43,727 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $10,363,000 after purchasing an additional 3,310 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 24,401 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,783,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 28.4% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 4,418 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 15,100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

More Salesforce News

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)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.89.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $185.10 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.24 and a twelve month high of $318.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $230.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.08. The firm has a market capitalization 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, 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. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.