Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,051 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 260.0% during the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 90 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Salesforce by 383.3% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $404.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.40, for a total transaction of $558,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,958,834,236.40. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,634,805. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $242.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $230.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $244.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.93. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.330-11.370 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 2.840-2.860 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.13%.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.