Magellan Asset Management Ltd Decreases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Magellan Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 99.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 447 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 78,240 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,572,253 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $21,228,624,000 after acquiring an additional 748,772 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,452,998,000 after buying an additional 776,300 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,669,224,000 after acquiring an additional 114,504 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,826,049,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $235.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.56.

Salesforce Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $185.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.19. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $174.57 and a 12 month high of $313.70. 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 $173.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.27.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. 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. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 1,936 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $258.64 per share, with a total value of $500,727.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This trade represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce is expanding AI capabilities (Momentum acquisition, partnerships for identity and governance) that support its Agentforce/Slackbot roadmap — a tangible product push investors see as earnings- and growth-accretive. Salesforce AI Deals Test Investor Patience As Valuation Screens Attractive
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and previews expect a strong Q4 with margin tailwinds from cost cuts and AI-driven product leverage — upbeat previews are supporting bullish positioning into the print. Salesforce Q4 earnings on deck: What to expect
• Positive Sentiment: A broader software rally tied to an Anthropic-related announcement lifted AI-linked names, giving Salesforce sector-driven relief that helped push the stock up. US software stocks climb as Anthropic announcement sparks relief rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market pricing signals a sizable move is expected around Wednesday’s after?hours Q4 report — raises short-term volatility risk but not a directional read. Here’s How Much Salesforce Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyCorp trimmed its price target substantially (from $400 to $300) but left an overweight stance — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while still reflecting conviction in the business. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms have cut price targets and flagged earnings/valuation risk ahead of Q4, underscoring downside sensitivity if revenue growth disappoints or AI investments don’t convert quickly. Big Salesforce Price Target Cuts Ahead of Q4 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Persistent critique around SaaS vulnerability to “agentic AI” and reminders of prior sharp corrections keep longer-term sentiment fragile — bulls point to AI integration, bears point to execution and valuation risks. What The Bulls Are Missing About Salesforce Stock

Salesforce 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.