Cerity Partners LLC Sells 10,976 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 643,039 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 10,976 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Salesforce worth $152,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,823,481 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,221,275,000 after purchasing an additional 909,853 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,452,998,000 after buying an additional 776,300 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,669,224,000 after buying an additional 114,504 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth $2,826,049,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,258,518 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,484,616,000 after acquiring an additional 600,386 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Capmk downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.74.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $262.86 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.54. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.96 and a 52 week high of $367.09. The stock has a market cap of $246.30 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 22.16%.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are turning more upbeat and raising price targets, which supports buyer interest and can drive near-term upside. Analysts love Salesforce stock and are raising their price targets
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat / MSN pieces argue CRM is set for a comeback in 2026 — citing AI exposure, institutional accumulation, buybacks/dividend increases and attractive longer-term upside — giving investors a clear bull narrative. 5 Reasons Salesforce Could Be One of 2026’s Best Trades
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights strong institutional ownership and signs of accumulation, which can stabilize the stock and amplify rebounds when sentiment improves. 5 reasons Salesforce could be one of 2026’s best trades
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation pieces are reassessing CRM after recent weakness — they note the stock pulled back on AI concerns but still see long-term value depending on growth assumptions, so risk/reward hinges on conviction in Salesforce’s AI monetization. Assessing Salesforce (CRM) Valuation After Recent AI Jitters And Share Price Weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry write-ups portray Salesforce as a contender amid AI disruption fears — supportive for long-term holders but flagging execution and competitive risks that deserve monitoring. Salesforce, Inc.: A Strong Contender for Growth Amidst AI Disruption Fears
• Neutral Sentiment: Opinion/analysis pieces urge diligence on specific AI initiatives and partners (e.g., third‑party offerings like Agentforce), signaling that not all AI-related moves are immediate catalysts. Salesforce: Take A Good Look At Agentforce Before You Invest
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting an early‑2026 pullback and headlines about a multi‑percent decline underscore lingering investor concern about AI disruption and 2025 performance — such headlines can trigger short‑term selling and higher volatility. Salesforce and Adobe Start 2026 With a 5% Plunge—Should Investors Buy or Bail?
• Negative Sentiment: Articles flagging the recent pullback and warning that institutional holders might react could presage more selling if guidance or early‑year results disappoint. Salesforce, Inc.’s (NYSE:CRM) recent 3.6% pullback adds to one-year year losses, institutional owners may take drastic measures

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 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, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total transaction of $31,598.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 157,284 shares of company stock valued at $37,274,684 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.