Salesforce Inc. $CRM Holdings Trimmed by Mondrian Investment Partners LTD

Key Points

• Mondrian Investment Partners cut its Salesforce stake by 46.6% in the third quarter, selling 309,708 shares and retaining 354,837 shares valued at approximately $81.5 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of Salesforce, with several major firms—including BlackRock, Arrowstreet Capital and Bank of America—holding or increasing substantial positions.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Salesforce receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $278.98; the company also recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations and announced a $0.44-per-share dividend.

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD cut its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 46.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 354,837 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 309,708 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.8% of Mondrian Investment Partners LTD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD's holdings in Salesforce were worth $81,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $11,396,844,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,363,096,000 after acquiring an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 28.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,724,790 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,188,666,000 after acquiring an additional 2,561,923 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $844,928,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $278.98.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares in the company, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $248.79 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11. The stock has a market cap of $204.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company's fifty day moving average is $236.30 and its 200-day moving average is $196.88.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 17th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s AI products are reportedly growing at triple-digit rates, while its Agentforce platform and more than $14 billion in annual free cash flow could support profitable expansion. The company’s valuation may look attractive if AI adoption accelerates. Salesforce Is Betting Big on AI. The Payoff Could Be Bigger Than Investors Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “Overweight” rating, indicating continued confidence in Salesforce’s growth outlook and AI transition. Salesforce Stock Rating Reaffirmed as Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: The $5.66 billion Braze purchase could expand Salesforce’s customer-engagement capabilities and strengthen its push from AI defense toward a broader autonomous-agent strategy. Salesforce’s $5.6B Braze Buyout
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor comparisons with Adobe, Arista Networks and Snowflake highlight Salesforce’s CRM leadership, focus on profitable growth and AI-agent pivot, but do not represent new company-specific developments. Salesforce vs. Snowflake
• Negative Sentiment: Investors may be concerned that the Braze acquisition’s $5.66 billion price will increase integration risk and pressure near-term returns. Questions about contracts, pricing and customer impact could temper enthusiasm for the deal. Salesforce to Buy Braze for $5.66B

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc NYSE: CRM is a global enterprise software company that provides cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data, analytics and interactions with customers across digital and traditional channels.

The company's products include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud and Data Cloud. Salesforce also offers Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and Slack for workplace collaboration.

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