Gifford Fong Associates Has $14.93 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Gifford Fong Associates grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 46.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,009 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 3.1% of Gifford Fong Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Gifford Fong Associates’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 191,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $45,276,000 after buying an additional 19,772 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 24,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,827,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.3% in the third quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,413 shares during the last quarter. Stack Financial Management Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $52,413,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Salesforce by 254.5% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 bought at an average price of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,927 shares of company stock worth $33,146,979. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce won a potential $5.6 billion, 10‑year IDIQ contract from the U.S. Army (via its national security unit) to provide AI, data analytics and modernization services — a multi‑year, defense‑focused revenue stream that boosts backlog visibility and expands Salesforce’s addressable market outside classic CRM. Salesforce wins $5.6B US Army contract for national security technology
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlights two long‑horizon deals (the Army contract plus a wildfire/AI engagement), signaling a strategic pivot into mission‑critical AI and government work that could drive higher‑margin services and longer contract durations. This supports the company’s AI positioning and potential new revenue streams. Salesforce Deepens Defense and Wildfire AI Roles With Long-Horizon Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street/TV commentary keeps Salesforce on investors’ radars (Jim Cramer, Barclays coverage, Zacks comparisons to Adobe). Analysts highlight AI momentum and margin improvements but the story remains mixed between long‑term opportunity and near‑term execution/valuation questions. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce granted ~139,574 RSUs to new employees from recent acquisitions (Apromore, Spindle AI, Informatica) — standard acquisition retention, modest dilution and a sign of integration activity. Salesforce Grants Equity Awards to Apromore, Spindle AI, and Informatica Employees
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/market sentiment remains a headwind — recent price weakness (large Y/Y drop and volatile monthly moves) and bearish chart/forecast articles are keeping short‑term pressure on the stock despite the headline deals. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) Price Prediction and Forecast 2026–2030 (February 2026)

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $228.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $213.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $247.30 and its 200-day moving average is $248.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.96 and a 1-year high of $360.18.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.51.

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.