Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,120,363 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 42,756 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.12% of Salesforce worth $265,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van Strum & Towne Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.5% during the third quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 24,360 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Salesforce by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 577 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 798,100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,150,000 after buying an additional 21,480 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 719,224 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $170,456,000 after buying an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Key Salesforce News
Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators say Salesforce’s Agentforce integrations and broader “agentic AI” strategy could materially alter the bull case if they drive strong adoption and Data Cloud monetization. This is being read as a potential catalyst for revenue re-acceleration. The Bull Case For Salesforce (CRM) Could Change Following Its Agentic AI Push With Agentforce Integrations
- Positive Sentiment: Retail investor interest has surged on social platforms after a ~32% decline in share price, with some traders calling a bottom — that sentiment can increase buying pressure and support near-term rallies. After a 32% Reckoning In Shares, Investors Are Calling The Salesforce Bottom. It’s Time To Rally | CRM
- Positive Sentiment: Technical analysts note CRM is trading inside a historical support range where past rebounds occurred, making it a potential buying opportunity for value-oriented and tactical traders. Is Salesforce Stock At A Key Buying Opportunity?
- Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on AI investing (including takes inspired by Andrew Ng) highlights the broader theme that AI apps remain underinvested — a tailwind for CRM as a major enterprise AI platform, though it’s a thematic rather than company-specific catalyst. Andrew Ng Thinks AI Apps are “Underinvested”—Here are the Stocks I’d Buy in Response
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst pieces note the Agentic AI push could reignite growth but emphasize execution risk — meaning the long-term upside depends on adoption and measurable revenue lift from Agentforce and Data Cloud. Salesforce Bets on Agentic AI: Will It Reignite CRM’s Revenue Growth?
- Negative Sentiment: High-profile coverage (including Jim Cramer) highlights Salesforce’s seat-based model and the company’s recent struggles; combined with the >30% Y/Y share decline, those points keep downside risk and skepticism elevated until growth visibly improves. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Seat Model
Salesforce Trading Down 0.0%
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion for 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%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Bank of America reduced their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 17th. Mizuho set a $340.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 target price 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, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.51.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on CRM
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $580,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,567,632.20. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 145,427 shares of company stock valued at $34,290,361. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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