Equitable Trust Co. Trims Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,643 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 13,118 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew 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 buying an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 45.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,234,969 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE CRM opened at $185.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $173.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $230.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.01. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $180.24 and a one year high of $318.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for 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 quarterly 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho keeps an Outperform rating on CRM, signaling continued analyst conviction that Salesforce can outperform peers as AI adoption supports growth. Mizuho Maintains an Outperform Rating on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha upgrade frames the upcoming Q4 print as an opportunity to “silence the bears,” highlighting potential revenue acceleration, expanding backlog and clearer AI-driven sales/expense dynamics that could re-rate the stock if delivered. Salesforce: Q4 Earnings Is An Opportunity To Silence The Bears (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Sector evidence: beaten-down software names (RingCentral, Five9) rallied after earnings that showed AI strengthening bookings — a sign that positive AI proofs could lift Salesforce if its own AI products (Agentforce, generative solutions) show similar commercial traction. Beaten-down software stocks RingCentral and Five9 rally as earnings quell some AI concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks previews the Q4 print and urges focus beyond headline EPS/revenue — metrics like backlog, billings mix and AI subscription uptake will matter, making the upcoming report a data-driven catalyst rather than a simple beat/miss story. Salesforce (CRM) Q4 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets note elevated investor attention and mixed analyst views — increased coverage raises volatility around the earnings print but doesn’t resolve direction until results and guidance arrive. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is Attracting Investor Attention
• Negative Sentiment: BMO cut its price target from $275 to $235 (still “Outperform”), which reduces upside expectations and signals more cautious near-term valuation assumptions. salesforce.com (CRM) PT Lowered to $235 at BMO Capital
• Negative Sentiment: BTIG trimmed its price target to $260, and RBC moved to a Hold — more downward pressure from sell-side revisions that can sap momentum ahead of the quarter. BTIG Research Lowers Salesforce Price Target to $260 Salesforce (CRM) Receives a Hold from RBC Capital
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option buying was recorded (roughly 132k puts), indicating elevated hedging or bearish spec positions that increase downside risk and implied volatility into earnings. (reported trading flow)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. 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 objective on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.