Korea Investment CORP Sells 88,883 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Korea Investment CORP lowered its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 729,866 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 88,883 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $172,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 27,361.5% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $933,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $431,157,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,087,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,413 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Bank of America cut their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (down from $280.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Macquarie Infrastructure lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.14.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total value of $929,259.10. Following the sale, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. The trade was a 22.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $202.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.76. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.57 and a 52 week high of $296.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.21 and a 200-day moving average of $236.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.76. Salesforce had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 17.96%.The business had revenue of $11.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 9th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 21.25%.

Salesforce News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings and market reaction — Salesforce reported an earnings beat and record revenue, and the stock has rebounded from recent lows as investors appear to be looking past worst?case AI fears. This is the main driver of improving sentiment. Salesforce: A Week After Earnings, the Market Has Spoken
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback and cash flow strength — Analysts highlight a meaningful free cash flow beat and Salesforce’s announcement of a massive $50B buyback, which can materially support share price and EPS over time. Salesforce: AI Disruption Fears Create Mispricing
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish price targets — Multiple firms have reiterated or raised ratings (e.g., Phillip Securities maintained a Buy with a $253 target), helping lift investor confidence. Upgrades/price?target moves are directly supportive of the rally. Phillip Securities Maintains a Buy on Salesforce (CRM)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI momentum and partnerships — New AI initiatives (Agentforce) and a Formula 1 fan?agent rollout show tangible go?to?market AI use cases that support long?term monetization of AI features. Salesforce Inc. (CRM) Leverages AI to Transform Fan and Customer Engagement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry writeups highlight momentum and valuation — Several outlets (Zacks) list Salesforce among software names positioned to benefit from a sector recovery; these articles boost visibility but provide less immediate price impact than earnings or buybacks. The Software Recovery Already Started: 5 Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Geographic expansion — Reports noting the Philippines as a fast?growing market signal incremental revenue opportunities but are less likely to move the stock near term. Philippines fastest-growing market for Salesforce in Southeast Asia
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing AI disruption and valuation concerns — Despite improving signals, investors remain wary that AI could compress demand or enable lower?cost competitors; the stock still reflects a material YTD and 1?year decline, keeping downside risk present. Is Salesforce (CRM) Pricing Reflect Its Cash Flow Outlook After Recent Share Price Weakness

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.