Central Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Central Bank & Trust Co. lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,437 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,029 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Salesforce by 383.3% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $259.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.96 and a 1-year high of $367.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $246.94 and a 200 day moving average of $251.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 173,034 shares of company stock worth $41,097,367 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Northland Securities lifted their price target on Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Northland Capmk lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.68.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares (22% increase to his stake), signaling insider confidence in the company’s outlook; insider purchases often reassure investors about management’s view of valuation and prospects. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan argues the market is underestimating Salesforce’s AI opportunity — calling CRM “priced like a value stock” while AI-driven monetization ramps, which supports the thesis for re-rating if AI revenue acceleration materializes. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI marketing firm Qualified, expanding its agentic/AI marketing stack and potentially creating cross-sell and product monetization opportunities within Marketing Cloud and Agentforce. Strategic tuck-ins can accelerate ARR and AI feature adoption. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG initiated coverage with a Buy and $335 target (roughly ~29% upside from current levels), adding upward analyst momentum and providing buy-side validation for CRM’s AI-led rebound thesis. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce remains a focus on market watchlists (Zacks note) and broader software sector recaps benchmark CRM performance; attention can boost liquidity but doesn’t change fundamentals immediately. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat/others note Salesforce’s recent EPS beat and guidance pointing to 2026 acceleration; that underpins the bullish narrative but is already partly reflected in sentiment and analyst revisions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reduced its price target on CRM, a reminder that some sell-side desks remain cautious on near-term multiples and execution risk — this can temper rallies and add upside resistance until proofs of AI monetization appear. Read More.

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.