Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lessened its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 33.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,134 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,622 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,572,253 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $21,228,624,000 after buying an additional 748,772 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,452,998,000 after acquiring an additional 776,300 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,669,224,000 after purchasing an additional 114,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth approximately $2,826,049,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Salesforce by 26.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.57.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:CRM opened at $189.58 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.27. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.24 and a 52 week high of $329.74. 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 fifty day moving average of $238.22 and a 200 day moving average of $242.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. On average, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid 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 presently 22.16%.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Options market activity shows elevated bullish positioning into the company’s FQ4 earnings, suggesting traders expect an upside surprise or are hedging for volatility. What the Options Market Tells Us About Salesforce
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analysts are broadly constructive ahead of FQ4 2026, which supports short-term momentum and helps explain buying interest. Wall Street bullish on Salesforce (CRM) ahead of its FQ4 2026 earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Several retail/investor pieces argue the recent pullback is a buying opportunity—some investors and commentators (including a Seeking Alpha author) are actively buying the “Salesforce crash,” which can amplify demand on dips. SaaSpocalypse: Why I’m Buying The Salesforce Crash
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term bullish takes (e.g., 247WallStreet) list CRM as a top tech holding for a multi-year horizon, reinforcing buy-and-hold narratives for value/growth investors. What Is One of the Best Tech Stocks to Hold for the Next 10 Years?
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights CRM as a top-ranked value stock on style scores, which can attract value-oriented flows after the pullback. Salesforce.com (CRM) is a Top-Ranked Value Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: New entrants are launching AI-native layers to run GTM workflows on top of any CRM—this is an emerging competitive/partner dynamic that could both pressure fees and spur integrations; impact is uncertain. Aurasell Launches World’s First AI-Native OS to Run Intelligent GTM Workflows on Any CRM
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and analyst-roundup articles are dissecting whether Wall Street optimism is priced in; these pieces mostly reiterate mixed views and won’t move the stock unless they include rating changes. Analysts stay constructive on Salesforce (CRM) despite sector weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad analysis on AI-driven ETF weakness asks whether the panic is overblown; this macro debate will influence sector multiples but is not specific to CRM’s near-term operations. AI Disruption Hit Multiple Sector ETFs: Is the Fear Overblown?
• Negative Sentiment: Company-level cost and leadership changes tied to its AI push were reported alongside commentary that CRM returns are weak—workforce and leadership reshaping can signal execution risk and near-term disruption. Salesforce Reshapes Workforce And Leadership As AI Push Meets Weak CRM Returns
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage explaining why CRM has recently fallen notes sector-driven selling, multiple compression, and profit-taking—these are the same dynamics that can keep upside capped until catalysts arrive. Here’s Why Salesforce.com (CRM) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Sector-level rout in software (ETF down sharply) driven by fears of AI replacing software workloads remains a headwind; broader sentiment could keep CRM under pressure even if fundamentals hold. 3 Historically Cheap Software Stocks Begging to Be Bought Amid the Recent Tech Rout

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. The trade was a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

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.