Vanguard Group Inc. Has $21.23 Billion Stake in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,572,253 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 748,772 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.41% of Salesforce worth $21,228,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 208.6% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 658.8% during the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the purchase, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $189.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $177.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $238.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.31. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $180.24 and a 12 month high of $329.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Salesforce News Roundup

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” 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 company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, January 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.57.

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.