New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,812 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 840,107 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,812 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Salesforce worth $199,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 383.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 208.6% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlighted five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM for 2026, arguing Salesforce has an attractive AI/cloud runway that could make it a top trade this year. MarketBeat: Five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM
• Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool and 247WallStreet pieces both profile Salesforce as underappreciated on AI upside — suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in its “agentic AI” roadmap or potential enterprise expansion. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case. Fool: Should you forget Palantir and buy these 2 tech stocks? 247WallSt: 2 Stocks That Don’t Have Enough AI Priced In
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — AmericanBankingNews reports an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” That supports investor confidence despite recent weakness. Salesforce receives average recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
• Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer has Salesforce on his radar, drawing attention to the company amid sector turmoil; coverage like this can add visibility but is not a direct catalyst. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Business
• Neutral Sentiment: The Globe and Mail highlighted a Zacks feature that mentions Salesforce alongside Adobe as notable ideas — more media/analyst attention that reinforces the stock’s profile. Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Adobe and Salesforce
• Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance flags that Salesforce’s AI revenue base is still small and that rising API costs could pressure margins — that raises the risk that the company’s margin story may be weaker than investors expect. Did Salesforce’s Small AI Revenue Base and Higher API Costs Just Recast Its Margin Story?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets emphasize CRM’s ~18–20% drop over the past year — headline pieces questioning whether the stock is still a hold add selling pressure and keep sentiment cautious. Salesforce Plunges 20% in a Year
• Negative Sentiment: Short news blurbs (MSN/headlines) noting that CRM is sinking while broader markets gain amplify the perception of underperformance versus peers. Salesforce.com (CRM) stock sinks as market gains

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $580,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,567,632.20. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 155,034 shares of company stock valued at $36,726,584. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $260.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $221.96 and a one year high of $367.09. The firm has a market cap of $243.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Arete Research raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Capmk lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.74.

About Salesforce

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.