Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 21.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,767 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,610 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $538,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 45.8% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,931,945 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,072,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234,969 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $184.93 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $173.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.89 and a 200-day moving average of $243.60.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Salesforce News Roundup

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 Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the company’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 transaction of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore dropped their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Monday, January 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.57.

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.