Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Trims Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,685 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 26,901 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 2.5% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $29,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,145.6% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,066 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 12,017 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 98.3% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,455 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,085,000 after purchasing an additional 10,633 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.3% during the third quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 187,071 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $44,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Salesforce by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 467,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $113,420,000 after buying an additional 61,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 281,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $66,610,000 after buying an additional 83,403 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Evercore reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.56.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted Q4 earnings topped expectations — Salesforce reported an adjusted EPS beat and revenue roughly in line with consensus, showing continued margin progress and revenue growth year-over-year. Q4 results & transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward profit targets: Q1 FY2027 EPS guidance of $3.110–$3.130 and FY2027 EPS guidance of $13.110–$13.190 both materially exceed Street consensus — a clear positive signal for future EPS trajectory (company guidance released 2/25/2026).
• Positive Sentiment: Large shareholder-friendly action — Salesforce committed to a sizable buyback program (reported as ~$50 billion), which supports EPS and provides a backstop for the stock. Buyback coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue guidance mixed but broadly in-line: Q1 revenue guidance of $11.0–$11.1B is at/just above consensus, while FY revenue guidance ($45.8–$46.2B) centers near the Street forecast — supports stable top-line growth though not a clear upside catalyst. Revenue outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Operating cash flow strength — cash from operations jumped year-over-year (helping liquidity), even as cash balances and liabilities shifted; useful context for buybacks and capital allocation decisions. Cash flow and balance-sheet details
• Negative Sentiment: After-hours weakness and investor caution — despite the EPS beat, shares slid after hours as participants focused on revenue nuances and the company’s “stable” top?line growth outlook; some analysts trimmed targets or downgraded, putting downward pressure on the stock. After-hours reaction
• Negative Sentiment: AI disruption narrative and sentiment risk — ongoing market anxiety that generative AI could displace parts of the enterprise software stack continues to weigh on valuation multiples for Salesforce and peers, contributing to volatility. AI concerns coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Insider/analyst dynamics — large insider share sales reported and mixed analyst moves (some price-target cuts despite buy ratings from others) add short-term selling pressure and uncertainty about near-term sentiment. Insider & analyst activity

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $192.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $226.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.86. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.57 and a 52-week high of $313.70.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.76. The company had revenue of $11.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

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.