Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $139.50 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 588,587 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,686 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.06% of Salesforce worth $139,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1,729.6% during 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. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $431,157,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position 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. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.5%

CRM stock opened at $194.47 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.57 and a fifty-two week high of $303.07. 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 market capitalization of $182.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $223.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.96% and a return on equity of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 21.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.06.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on profitability and AI traction — Non‑GAAP EPS came in at $3.81 (well above consensus) and management highlighted Agentforce/AI monetization as a growth driver, supporting the view that AI is adding commercial value. Revenue In Line With Expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Big capital‑return program — Salesforce raised its dividend and authorized a $50B buyback, signaling management confidence and improving EPS leverage if executed. That buyback is a clear near‑term support for the share price. AI Bet & Buyback
• Neutral Sentiment: Long‑term targets updated — Management lifted multiyear ambitions (targeting roughly $63B revenue by FY2030) and kept FY27 EPS guidance in a tight range; this supports the long‑term bull case but leaves near‑term pacing ambiguous. FY30 Target & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance and metrics disappointed some — cRPO and other cloud momentum measures were only in‑line, and commentary implied a mid‑year slowdown before AI‑driven reacceleration, which hurt investor confidence. Jefferies on Near‑Term Slowdown
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst cuts and mixed ratings — Several banks trimmed price targets (examples: Sanford Bernstein, TD Cowen, RBC, BMO, Barclays, DA Davidson) or issued neutral/underperform stances, increasing short‑term selling pressure as models were reset. Analyst Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism over AI impact persists — Coverage highlights that some investors still worry AI could compress SaaS economics despite management’s assurances, creating continued volatility in CRM shares. 3 Reasons Earnings Failed to Impress

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.