Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Holdings Lifted by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies more than doubled its stake in Salesforce in Q3 (up 103.7%), holding 10,042 shares worth about $2.38M, and institutional investors collectively own roughly 80.43% of the stock.
• Salesforce beat quarterly expectations (EPS $3.81 vs. $3.05 consensus) with revenue up 12.1% y/y, set FY‑2027 guidance, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.44 ($1.76 annualized).
• Market sentiment is mixed: Salesforce is advancing AI products (Agentforce expansions) that could boost monetization, but analysts have trimmed price targets and short interest rose ~14.8%, signaling increased near‑term caution.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 103.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,042 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,111 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,572,253 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $21,228,624,000 after acquiring an additional 748,772 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,260,918 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $13,452,998,000 after acquiring an additional 776,300 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,873,900 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,669,224,000 after acquiring an additional 114,504 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $2,826,049,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.2% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $194.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.57 and a 1-year high of $296.05. The business's 50 day moving average is $214.43 and its 200-day moving average is $236.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The CRM provider reported $3.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.78 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 13.110-13.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.110-3.130 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be issued 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 21.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Salesforce from $267.00 to $229.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.06.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 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 completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce expanded its Agentforce AI platform with new partnerships and sector moves (including a Formula 1 fan companion agent) that show progress commercializing AI across verticals. Salesforce Expands Agentforce With Formula 1 Partnership And Finance Shift
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce launched Agentforce Contact Center to integrate AI, voice and CRM — a product move that targets high-value contact-center spend and could accelerate revenue per customer if adoption scales. Salesforce Launches Agentforce Contact Center to Unify AI, Voice and CRM
• Positive Sentiment: Third-party ecosystem activity: Pimly launched a Product Intelligence solution on Salesforce’s AgentExchange, which could increase platform stickiness and extend use cases for front-office AI workflows. Pimly Product Intelligence Launch May Deepen Salesforce Platform Usage And Value
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive/market commentary: HubSpot (HUBS) reported strong subscription growth — a reminder of CRM competition that can influence investor sentiment around SaaS growth comps. HUBS Rides on Solid Subscriber Revenue Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Opinion pieces argue Salesforce is undervalued after recent weakness, framing current weakness as a buying opportunity if management executes on AI monetization. Salesforce: The SaaSpocalypse Created A Rare Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-form analysis and sector context (e.g., Forbes piece on CRM’s path) highlight that sentiment about AI and guidance, not just fundamentals, is driving recent volatility. CRM Stock: Path To $260
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose ~14.8% in February to ~21.9M shares (about 2.4% of shares), signaling increased bearish positioning that can amplify near-term downside pressure. (SEC/market short-interest report)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target trims: Northland cut its target to $229 (market-perform) and DA Davidson cut its target to $200 while keeping Neutral — fresh PT reductions that reinforce cautious near-term expectations. Northland Cuts Price Target DA Davidson Lowers PT on Salesforce

About Salesforce

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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