Flputnam Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,988 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,879 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,012 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Salesforce by 16.0% in the third quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 870 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 22.8% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,102 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 5.1% during the third quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 45,422 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CGN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 12,911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,060,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 173,034 shares of company stock worth $41,097,367. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.68.

Salesforce News Summary

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 Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $259.64 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $246.94 and its 200 day moving average is $251.75. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.96 and a 52 week high of $367.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $243.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

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.