German American Bancorp Inc. Invests $3.70 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• German American Bancorp acquired 23,623 Salesforce shares worth approximately $3.70 million, while institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of CRM’s stock.
• Salesforce exceeded quarterly expectations with adjusted EPS of $3.88 versus $3.13 expected and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, yielding about 0.9% annually.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $249.05, though some analysts cite growing competition from AI-native tools and rival platforms as a risk.

German American Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 23,623 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,701,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank lifted its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $195.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $160.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $171.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.95. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.32 and a fifty-two week high of $269.11.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Trending Headlines about Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan resumed coverage with an Overweight rating and a $250 price target, citing potential acceleration in Salesforce’s core business during the second half of the year. The target implies more than 24% upside from recent levels. JPMorgan bullish Salesforce coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Monness Crespi & Hardt raised its Salesforce price target to $222 from $200 and maintained a Buy rating. UBS and Wells Fargo also reportedly forecast strong appreciation, reinforcing improving sell-side sentiment. Monness Crespi Salesforce price target
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s Agentforce platform is gaining traction, giving the company a way to use its large CRM customer base to compete with Microsoft and Oracle in enterprise “agentic” AI. Salesforce agentic AI analysis
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis argues that Salesforce’s $27.1 billion share-repurchase program, equivalent to an estimated 23% net buyback yield, could support earnings-per-share growth. The stock also appears inexpensive at roughly 14 times forward earnings, although buybacks have increased debt. Salesforce buyback analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce has recently posted strong momentum, with reports noting three consecutive weeks of gains and substantial one-month appreciation. That run may be encouraging investors, but it also raises the possibility of profit-taking.
• Negative Sentiment: Parnassus Investments indicated that Salesforce has lost favor as AI opportunities shift toward competing or substitute technologies. Other commentary likewise warns that alternative software and AI-native tools threaten Salesforce’s traditional CRM franchise. Salesforce AI competition concerns

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Macquarie Infrastructure dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Phillip Securities downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $228.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.05.

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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