Appleton Partners Inc. MA Increases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sendero Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $5,389,000. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.1% during the second quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 18,865 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,144,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 35.9% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 25,539 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,964,000 after buying an additional 6,740 shares in the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.1% during the second quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 38,421 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,477,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.6% during the second quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 19,206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,237,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $245.85 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $234.05 billion, a PE ratio of 35.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $246.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $259.80.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 16.87%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 3,824 shares in the company, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $531,855.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,657,152.98. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,750 shares of company stock worth $19,747,868. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.58.

Salesforce 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.