Krane Funds Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 171.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,197 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,172 shares during the quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $826,000. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in Salesforce by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 33,370 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 20,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $431,157,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,387 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $178.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $166.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $229.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.57. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $174.57 and a 1 year high of $313.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.33.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire Momentum, a conversational‑insights and revenue‑orchestration platform — the deal is expected to extend Agentforce 360 and Slackbot capabilities to ingest and analyze third‑party unstructured voice data, strengthening Salesforce’s AI/contact‑center stack and product monetization potential. Salesforce Inc (CRM) Expands AI Capabilities With Momentum Acquisition
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/industry coverage highlights a large “agentic AI” opportunity for Salesforce — pieces argue Agentforce and other AI initiatives could be a multi‑year revenue tailwind if execution and GTM scale succeed. This supports a longer‑term growth narrative even as near‑term metrics are watched closely. Salesforce: Capitalizing On The Massive Agentic AI Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity shows elevated interest and provides a read on short‑term sentiment — Benzinga’s options deep dive notes concentrated positioning that can amplify moves into earnings, making volatility around the print more likely. Traders should watch skew and open interest for signals. Salesforce Options Trading: A Deep Dive into Market Sentiment
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre‑earnings preview: Zacks notes AI/cloud demand could push Q4 revenue toward ~$11.2B and that prior cost cuts may boost EPS, but outcome hinges on product uptake and guidance for FY27 — results/guidance will likely drive the next leg of the move. Can AI and Cloud Strength Keep Salesforce’s Growth on Track in Q4?
• Negative Sentiment: Major broker price‑target cuts surfaced ahead of Q4 results, which has pressured sentiment — several firms trimmed targets, signaling lower near‑term expectations and increasing downside risk if guidance disappoints. Big Salesforce Price Target Cuts Ahead of Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage flags that Salesforce’s AI agent push plus related job cuts are reframing the investment story toward automation‑driven efficiency — investors may view workforce reductions and restructuring as a sign management is prioritizing margins, which can be read positively or negatively depending on growth outlook. Did Salesforce’s (CRM) AI Agent Push and Job Cuts Just Recast Its Automation-Driven Investment Narrative?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was flagged in a broader report on executives exiting positions — while not definitive, increased insider sales can add to short‑term negative sentiment ahead of earnings. Sell… Sell… Sell… Another Eight Companies Insiders Are Exiting

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company 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.