Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,980 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,819 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $79,000. Whalerock Point Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 19,060 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,517,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.3% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 227,153 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $53,835,000 after purchasing an additional 7,323 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.7% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 588,587 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $139,495,000 after purchasing an additional 31,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,741 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $199.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $225.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.59. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.57 and a 1-year high of $304.92. 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 has a market cap of $186.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.28%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.78 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat on profit and showed decent top‑line growth (non‑GAAP EPS $3.81; revenue +12% Y/Y), underscoring operational leverage. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Management authorized a $50 billion share‑buyback and raised the cash return profile (also a 5.8% dividend increase) — strong capital return that supports EPS and investor confidence. CNBC: $50B Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Company reiterated AI/Agentforce momentum and raised its FY2030 revenue ambition to ~$63B, signaling conviction in long‑term AI monetization. Seeking Alpha: $63B Target & Agentforce
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish analysts (e.g., Wedbush) reiterated positive views, calling Salesforce a long‑term AI beneficiary — supporting a recovery narrative. Investopedia: Wedbush Views
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance was mixed: EPS guidance for FY‑2027 came in above consensus, but some revenue pacing and seasonality left investors seeking clearer acceleration—a two‑sided data point. Reuters: Guidance Context
• Neutral Sentiment: Market reaction is being shaped by technical and sentiment dynamics across the SaaS group (sectorwide “SaaSpocalypse” fear vs. value‑hunt), so volatility may persist even with positive corporate actions. MarketBeat: Buyback & Sector Context
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed price targets and several banks flagged near‑term growth risk (cRPO growth in line with guidance), which limits upside until sustained reacceleration is visible. TickerReport/Benzinga: Analyst Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain worried AI could compress traditional software margins/renewals; Jefferies and others warned of a near‑term slowdown even as AI adoption builds. Proactive: Jefferies Note
• Negative Sentiment: Shares experienced after‑hours weakness immediately following the release (mixed beats vs. forward uncertainty), showing sensitivity to guidance details despite strong EPS. Proactive: After‑hours Move

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Northland Securities upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.06.

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.