Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 136,470 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,681,346 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 136,470 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.60% of Salesforce worth $1,346,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Country Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% in the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Won a major U.S. Army national-security IDIQ worth up to $5.6 billion over 10 years via its national-security unit Computable Insights / Missionforce National Security — a sizeable, multi-year revenue opportunity and credibility boost for Salesforce’s AI/data offerings in government. U.S. Army Awards Salesforce $5.6B Contract
• Positive Sentiment: Additional coverage and commentary highlight the same $5.6B win and frame it as a catalyst for investor interest and valuation support — analysts and outlets are re-evaluating Salesforce’s growth runway given this contract. Salesforce wins $5.6B US Army contract
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and relative-stock comparisons are generally favorable: some analysts and writeups argue Salesforce is a stronger enterprise-software buy than Adobe today, citing AI (Agentforce) momentum and improving margins — supportive for sentiment and potential upgrades. CRM vs. ADBE: Which Enterprise Software Stock Is the Better Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays notes macro and IT spending remain stable — a steady-market backdrop that reduces downside risk from cyclical IT cuts but doesn’t necessarily accelerate growth. Barclays says macro and IT spending remain stable
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce granted 139,574 restricted stock units to employees from recent acquisitions (Apromore, Spindle AI, Informatica) under its inducement plan — standard integration compensation; small potential dilution but routine for M&A hires. Salesforce Grants Equity Awards to Apromore, Spindle AI, and Informatica Employees
• Neutral Sentiment: Heightened investor attention and analyst optimism pieces are circulating (Zacks, Finbold), which can boost trading volume and short-term interest but don’t by themselves change fundamentals. Is Salesforce.com (CRM) a Buy as Wall Street Analysts Look Optimistic?
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/market-warning signals have been flagged: some analysts note price-trend deterioration (“triple red”) despite solid operations, which can trigger short-term selling pressure from trend-followers. CRM Stock Is Flashing A Warning Signal
• Negative Sentiment: Some deep-dive coverage (Seeking Alpha) emphasizes a lower growth outlook vs. prior expectations, arguing valuation concerns remain despite claims of undervaluation — a narrative that can weigh on longer-term sentiment. Salesforce: Lower Growth Outlook But Extremely Undervalued

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $228.58 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $247.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.23. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.96 and a 1 year high of $367.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $405.00 to $398.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. 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 report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.51.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 140,927 shares of company stock worth $33,146,979 in the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.