Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $7.37 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,491 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank raised its position in Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of CRM opened at $184.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $240.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $243.60. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.81 and a 12-month high of $330.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. 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 prior year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. The firm’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. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.57.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and trade pieces argue the AI-driven sell-off is overdone and position Salesforce as an underrated leader in AI-native SaaS; MarketBeat highlights bullish analyst coverage and potential upside from upcoming earnings/guidance. AI Disruption Overblown
• Positive Sentiment: Long-form bullish thesis (Seeking Alpha) frames the recent pullback as sentiment-driven, points to durable SaaS metrics (large RPO, subscription growth, AI monetization) and a multi-quarter upside scenario — a buy-the-dip argument for investors with a multi-quarter horizon. Salesforce: Buy The Fear
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and other strategists continue to single out select software names as potential multi-baggers if sentiment stabilizes; these analyst views support the case that Salesforce could rebound with the sector. These 5 Software Stocks Could Double
• Neutral Sentiment: Barron’s flags heavy short interest across software and says a short-squeeze could spark a near-term rally — a technical/flow risk that can exacerbate moves in either direction depending on sentiment. Software Stocks Look Primed for a Short Squeeze
• Neutral Sentiment: JP Morgan/Reuters note the pullback offers buying opportunities for higher-quality software names if AI disruption fears prove overstated — an institutional view that could support calmer flows into CRM over time. AI disruption fears create buying chance
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk: >1,400 employees signed a letter urging CEO Marc Benioff to cut ties with ICE after a reported joke and internal backlash — negative PR that can increase investor uncertainty around governance and customer relationships. Salesforce employees call on CEO Benioff
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and execution signal: reports indicate Salesforce cut fewer than 1,000 roles in a recent round — while layoffs can improve margins, they also reflect management actions in response to slower demand and contribute to near-term investor caution. Salesforce cuts less than 1,000 jobs

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.