Carmel Capital Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Carmel Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,078 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,536 shares during the quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 87,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387 shares during the last quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. Advyzon Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 57.4% in the 2nd quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 78.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 43,186 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,235,000 after acquiring an additional 18,927 shares during the period. Finally, Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.5% during the second quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 206,614 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $56,342,000 after purchasing an additional 16,176 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CRM. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.51.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, 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 transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 145,427 shares of company stock worth $34,290,361 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts note Salesforce’s push into agentic AI (Agentforce) and continued monetization of Data Cloud as potential drivers to reignite revenue growth and margins, which investors view as a credible growth pathway. Salesforce Bets on Agentic AI: Will It Reignite CRM’s Revenue Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary highlights Salesforce’s recent market outperformance and investor attention after its latest session close, reinforcing momentum among buyers. Salesforce.com (CRM) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish takes (Seeking Alpha, Forbes) argue the selloff is overdone and that CRM is trading in a historical support range, framing the stock as a potential buying opportunity for contrarian investors. Salesforce: The Selloff Is Overdone, A Contrarian Buy Opportunity (Rating Upgrade)
• Neutral Sentiment: High-profile coverage (Jim Cramer) is calling attention to Salesforce’s seat-based model and platform strategy; increased media focus can boost flows but doesn’t by itself change fundamentals. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Seat Model
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings previews are mixed: Salesforce posted $3.25 EPS vs. $2.86 consensus and ~9% YoY revenue growth, with Q4 FY2026 EPS guidance of $3.02–$3.04—numbers that support valuation but leave some growth questions. Salesforce earnings preview: What to expect
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure from vertical SaaS peers (notably Veeva in life sciences) and questions about services execution are being raised as risks to Salesforce’s growth and win rates in certain industries. Veeva vs Salesforce – the services questions that Life Sciences organizations need to be asking – and time is running
• Negative Sentiment: Analyses and headlines flag investor concerns—slowing growth relative to lofty AI expectations and valuation risks—which have contributed to recent volatility and caution among some funds. What Is Spooking CRM Stock Investors?
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets include Salesforce on “stocks to avoid” lists amid the AI hype, highlighting execution and competitive risks that could pressure sentiment if growth disappoints. Top 5 Stocks to Avoid Despite the AI Hype

Salesforce Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $228.19 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.96 and a 1-year high of $367.09. The company has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.47, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.26. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 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.