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

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 588,587 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,686 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $139,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Country Trust Bank increased its position in Salesforce by 658.8% during the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 284.6% in the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 150 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $194.47 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $174.57 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $182.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.98 and a 200-day moving average of $238.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its 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 return on equity of 15.28% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 139,767 shares in the company, valued at $32,803,314.90. The trade was a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Salesforce from $235.00 to $210.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.06.

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.