David Blair Kirk Purchases 1,936 Shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Stock

20 Dec 2025, 11:07 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) Director David Blair Kirk acquired 1,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $258.64 per share, for a total transaction of $500,727.04. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 10,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,761,499.28. This represents a 22.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $259.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $243.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.96 and a 52 week high of $367.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $246.94 and a 200-day moving average of $251.84.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 22.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% in the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Salesforce from $316.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.68.

View Our Latest Research Report on CRM

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

Positive Sentiment: Director David Blair Kirk bought 1,936 shares (22% increase to his stake), signaling insider confidence in the company’s outlook; insider purchases often reassure investors about management’s view of valuation and prospects. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan argues the market is underestimating Salesforce’s AI opportunity — calling CRM “priced like a value stock” while AI-driven monetization ramps, which supports the thesis for re-rating if AI revenue acceleration materializes. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: Salesforce agreed to acquire AI marketing firm Qualified, expanding its agentic/AI marketing stack and potentially creating cross-sell and product monetization opportunities within Marketing Cloud and Agentforce. Strategic tuck-ins can accelerate ARR and AI feature adoption. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: BTIG initiated coverage with a Buy and $335 target (roughly ~29% upside from current levels), adding upward analyst momentum and providing buy-side validation for CRM’s AI-led rebound thesis. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce remains a focus on market watchlists (Zacks note) and broader software sector recaps benchmark CRM performance; attention can boost liquidity but doesn’t change fundamentals immediately. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: MarketBeat/others note Salesforce’s recent EPS beat and guidance pointing to 2026 acceleration; that underpins the bullish narrative but is already partly reflected in sentiment and analyst revisions. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reduced its price target on CRM, a reminder that some sell-side desks remain cautious on near-term multiples and execution risk — this can temper rallies and add upside resistance until proofs of AI monetization appear. Read More.

About Salesforce

(Get Free Report)

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.