Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by Cibc World Market Inc.

Cibc World Market Inc. cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,997 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 96,664 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $32,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $11,013,000. Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $2,944,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,365,000 after buying an additional 3,491 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Salesforce by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 33,860 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,025,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.9% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the 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 $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.57.

Key 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

Salesforce Stock Down 4.4%

NYSE:CRM opened at $184.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.81 and a 52 week high of $330.35. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.89 and a 200-day moving average of $243.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

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.