Metis Global Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce by 4.6% in Q3, selling 2,697 shares and leaving it with 56,177 shares worth about $13.31 million per the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive: the stock carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target of $323.57, and several firms have recently raised price targets (e.g., BTIG $335, Barclays $338, RBC $290).
• Shares have pulled back — opening at $185.39 and trading near a one‑year low of $180.24 versus a high of $330.35 — even though Salesforce beat quarterly EPS expectations ($3.25 vs. $2.86) and set Q4 2026 guidance of $3.020–$3.040 per share.

Metis Global Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,177 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,697 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 208.6% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 126 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in Salesforce by 658.8% in the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $335.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup downgraded Salesforce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $338.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their target price on Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $323.57.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on CRM despite sector weakness; multiple broker notes and aggregate analyst bias continue to support a “moderate buy” view, giving upward support to the shares. Analysts stay constructive on Salesforce (CRM) despite sector weakness
• Positive Sentiment: Several market pieces argue AI fears are overblown and list Salesforce as a buy-on-the-dip candidate — framing the recent sell-off as sentiment-driven and highlighting CRM’s scale, recurring revenue, and AI integrations as recovery catalysts. AI Disruption Overblown! 4 Software Stocks to Buy on the Dip
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other value-screen articles flag CRM as attractive on valuation/score metrics, reinforcing the narrative that the pullback is creating a value entry point for longer-term investors. Salesforce.com (CRM) is a Top-Ranked Value Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: New AI-focused startups are rolling out CRM-adjacent tools (Aurasell’s AI-native OS) that could alter go-to-market workflows — a potential long-term competitive variable but not an immediate earnings shock. Aurasell Launches World’s First AI-Native OS to Run Intelligent GTM Workflows on Any CRM
• Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion on lists of software rebound candidates and mentions by large banks/analysts (e.g., Morgan Stanley lists) supports market attention; these are constructive but depend on broader sector sentiment stabilizing. These 5 Software Stocks Could Double in Price This Year, Says Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Employee backlash after a reported joke about ICE and a petition demanding CEO Marc Benioff cut ties with ICE introduce reputational risk and internal distraction; over 1,400 employees signed a letter — this social governance issue is pressuring sentiment. Salesforce employees call on CEO Benioff to cancel ICE 'opportunities'
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Salesforce is reshaping workforce and leadership as its AI push meets weak CRM returns point to near-term execution and cost-pressure concerns that can weigh on guidance and margins. Salesforce Reshapes Workforce And Leadership As AI Push Meets Weak CRM Returns
• Negative Sentiment: Recent sell-offs and sector-wide AI fears have driven sharp volatility; short-interest and downdrafts in software peers amplify downside risk until earnings/outlook clarity returns. Here's Why Salesforce.com (CRM) Fell More Than Broader Market

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $185.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $239.64 and a 200 day moving average of $243.20. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.24 and a 1 year high of $330.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.41 EPS. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 96,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $780,309,155.22. This trade represents a 3.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total transaction of $31,605,171.40. Following the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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