Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stake Lifted by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,677 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,748 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 410.3% during the first quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.0%

CRM opened at $244.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $200.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $197.36 and its 200-day moving average is $186.34. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 21.99%.The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.91 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on CRM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.50.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agentforce momentum is improving. Agentforce annual recurring revenue reportedly surpassed $1.5 billion, signaling increasing customer adoption of Salesforce’s AI agents. However, the business remains relatively small compared with Salesforce’s overall revenue base, suggesting a gradual rather than explosive effect on growth. Agentforce ARR Hits $1.5B: Can It Boost Salesforce’s Revenue Growth?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to identify long-term growth potential. Coverage points to stabilizing growth, rising AI monetization and a valuation that remains below some major enterprise-software peers. Salesforce’s recent earnings beat, including quarterly revenue of $11.35 billion and earnings of $5.90 per share, also supports the bullish case. Why Salesforce Is a Top Growth Stock for the Long Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting next week’s Dreamforce and Investor Day events. Management could provide additional details on Agentforce adoption, AI monetization and future growth targets, potentially clarifying whether the recent rally can continue. Salesforce Is Nearly Fully Priced: Why Bulls Say This Is Just the Beginning
• Negative Sentiment: Salesforce is reportedly in preliminary talks to acquire Listen Labs for approximately $2 billion. The AI customer-research platform was last valued at about $500 million, raising concerns about the purchase price, integration risk and whether the acquisition will generate sufficient returns. The uncertainty appears to be weighing on CRM. Salesforce Has Held Talks to Buy Listen Labs
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and profit-taking remain risks. After a sharp recent rally, some commentary describes the stock as close to fully priced, leaving less room for disappointment if AI revenue growth does not accelerate rapidly. Salesforce Stock Gains 34% in a Month

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. The trade was a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc is a cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management (CRM) technology and related enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data analytics and business operations through subscription-based software and cloud services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Data Cloud and the Salesforce Platform. Salesforce also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and artificial intelligence capabilities, including its Agentforce platform for building and deploying AI agents.

Founded in 1999, Salesforce is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and serves businesses and organizations across a broad range of industries and geographic markets worldwide.