Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 161,920 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 689,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 161,920 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 0.5% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.07% of Salesforce worth $163,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Scott & Selber Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the second quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 5,850 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in Salesforce by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 607 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.51.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 96,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $260.58 per share, for a total transaction of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $580,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,567,632.20. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 145,427 shares of company stock worth $34,290,361 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of CRM opened at $228.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.96 and a 1-year high of $367.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $247.54 and a 200 day moving average of $248.84.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS 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 business had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.41 EPS. The company’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, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators say Salesforce’s Agentforce integrations and broader “agentic AI” strategy could materially alter the bull case if they drive strong adoption and Data Cloud monetization. This is being read as a potential catalyst for revenue re-acceleration. The Bull Case For Salesforce (CRM) Could Change Following Its Agentic AI Push With Agentforce Integrations
• Positive Sentiment: Retail investor interest has surged on social platforms after a ~32% decline in share price, with some traders calling a bottom — that sentiment can increase buying pressure and support near-term rallies. After a 32% Reckoning In Shares, Investors Are Calling The Salesforce Bottom. It’s Time To Rally | CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Technical analysts note CRM is trading inside a historical support range where past rebounds occurred, making it a potential buying opportunity for value-oriented and tactical traders. Is Salesforce Stock At A Key Buying Opportunity?
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on AI investing (including takes inspired by Andrew Ng) highlights the broader theme that AI apps remain underinvested — a tailwind for CRM as a major enterprise AI platform, though it’s a thematic rather than company-specific catalyst. Andrew Ng Thinks AI Apps are “Underinvested”—Here are the Stocks I’d Buy in Response
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst pieces note the Agentic AI push could reignite growth but emphasize execution risk — meaning the long-term upside depends on adoption and measurable revenue lift from Agentforce and Data Cloud. Salesforce Bets on Agentic AI: Will It Reignite CRM’s Revenue Growth?
• Negative Sentiment: High-profile coverage (including Jim Cramer) highlights Salesforce’s seat-based model and the company’s recent struggles; combined with the >30% Y/Y share decline, those points keep downside risk and skepticism elevated until growth visibly improves. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Seat Model

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.