Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,426 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Benchmark Investment Advisors acquired 3,426 Salesforce shares worth approximately $537,000 in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Salesforce holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $249.87, although some firms recently downgraded the stock or lowered their targets.
• Salesforce’s latest results exceeded expectations, with revenue rising 13.3% year over year to $11.13 billion and EPS reaching $3.88. Investors are focused on upcoming earnings and the company’s AI growth prospects, while increased debt used to fund buybacks remains a key risk.

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,426 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its position 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target 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. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Salesforce from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.87.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Favorable earnings setup: Oppenheimer and other analysts see potential upside from Salesforce’s upcoming results, while market expectations point to a possible post-earnings move toward the stock’s highest level since January. Salesforce Faces Favorable Second-Quarter Setup With Upside Potential How Much Salesforce Stock Is Expected to Move After Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $228 price target, while Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an Overweight rating and set a $250 target. The calls reflect confidence that Salesforce can capture demand for next-generation AI-powered, “agentic” enterprise workflows. Cantor Fitzgerald Salesforce Analyst Comment
• Positive Sentiment: Growth and capital returns: Zacks characterizes Salesforce as a strong growth stock, while a report highlights a record $27 billion quarterly share repurchase program. Buybacks could support earnings per share and signal that management views the shares as undervalued. Why Salesforce Is a Strong Growth Stock Salesforce Record Stock Buybacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Results are the next catalyst: Analysts are focused on revenue, EPS, and operating metrics for the quarter ended July 2026. Salesforce previously reported $11.13 billion of quarterly revenue, up 13.3% year over year, and EPS of $3.88, above consensus. Salesforce Q2 Earnings Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: AI platform positioning: Coverage comparing Salesforce with ServiceNow suggests investors are rotating toward enterprise application software as AI investment broadens beyond hardware. Salesforce’s Headless 360 strategy and the Agiloft integration on AgentExchange offer additional evidence of ecosystem expansion. Salesforce Versus ServiceNow
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: The buybacks were funded partly with $25 billion of new debt, increasing leverage and interest obligations. Separate commentary questions whether Salesforce could become a value trap if growth slows or AI monetization disappoints. Salesforce Value Trap Analysis

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $209.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $269.11. The company has a market capitalization of $171.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50 day moving average is $174.33 and its 200-day moving average is $181.56.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.58 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

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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