William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 26,046 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 26,046 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,080,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.0%

CRM opened at $209.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.35. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Trending Headlines about 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. 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 research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.87.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.