Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Increased by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,428 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 39,600 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $43,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Country Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% during the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $184.93 on Thursday. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.81 and a 1 year high of $330.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 $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 0.9%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho set a $340.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.57.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha argues the pullback is a value opportunity: durable SaaS moat, large RPO, double-digit subscription growth and AI monetization support a bullish 18?month target (~$330). Salesforce: Buy The Fear In Enterprise SaaS Durability
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat says AI disruption fears are overblown and lists Salesforce as a top SaaS name to buy on the dip, citing analyst Buy bias, outperformance on profit metrics, and catalysts from upcoming earnings/guidance. AI Disruption Overblown! 4 Software Stocks to Buy on the Dip
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters and strategists (e.g., JP Morgan) view the sector sell?off as a buying opportunity created by overstated AI disruption fears—suggesting quality software names like Salesforce may recover as outlooks stabilize. AI disruption fears create buying chance in US software stocks, strategists say
• Neutral Sentiment: Barron’s highlights heavy short interest and the possibility of a short squeeze in software stocks—a technical catalyst that could produce a sharp rally even if fundamental AI concerns persist. Software Stocks Look Primed for a Short Squeeze
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks compares CRM with peers like Intuit for value investors—useful context but not an immediate catalyst; it frames CRM relative valuation and investor appetite. CRM vs. INTU: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Yahoo reports Salesforce is reshaping workforce and leadership as the company pushes into AI while facing weaker CRM returns—operational restructuring and leadership moves increase short?term execution risk and may pressure sentiment. Salesforce Reshapes Workforce And Leadership As AI Push Meets Weak CRM Returns
• Negative Sentiment: More than 1,400 employees have signed a letter urging CEO Marc Benioff to drop potential ICE work after a controversial joke—public employee revolt and reputational scrutiny create near?term PR and contract risk. Salesforce employees call on CEO Benioff to cancel ICE ‘opportunities’
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks notes CRM fell more than the broader market in the latest session (sharp intraday weakness), reflecting sensitivity to the sector sell?off and headline risk. Here’s Why Salesforce.com (CRM) Fell More Than Broader Market

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.