Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys 11,777 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 64.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,111 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,777 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the third quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC now owns 3,355 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 134,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.70, for a total value of $31,605,171.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,803,314.90. This represents a 49.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Neelie Kroes sold 3,893 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.70, for a total transaction of $929,259.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,742,271.30. This trade represents a 34.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $199.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $186.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $245.13 and its 200 day moving average is $246.24. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $187.28 and a one year high of $348.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 17.91%.The firm had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Northland Securities upped their price target on Salesforce from $264.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.57.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce won a large U.S. Army cloud deal (reported value ~$5.6B), a direct revenue and backlog catalyst that supports long-term enterprise demand for CRM’s cloud services. Salesforce (CRM) Wins $5.6 Billion Army Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Strong AI adoption narrative: analysts and commentators highlight rising enterprise AI use of Salesforce tools — investors view current revenue lag as an opportunity for future upside. Salesforce: AI Adoption Is Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Technical/flow factors: analysts note the stock has been oversold after a steep sell-off and that exhausted selling could trigger a short-term rebound — a likely reason for today’s intraday strength. After Plunging 17.7% in 4 Weeks, Here’s Why the Trend Might Reverse
• Neutral Sentiment: Company scheduled Q4 & full-year fiscal 2026 results on Feb. 25 (after market), which will be a near-term volatility event and likely driver of positioning between now and the print. Salesforce Announces Timing of its Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2026 Results Conference Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is active — services compiling 25 experts’ views and debate over fair value/undervaluation, so investor sentiment remains mixed and will hinge on upcoming guidance. The Analyst Verdict: Salesforce In The Eyes Of 25 Experts
• Neutral Sentiment: High-profile commentators (Jim Cramer) continue to discuss the stock’s fundamentals and long-term ownership, keeping retail attention elevated but not unambiguously bullish. Jim Cramer highlights that the charitable trust has owned Salesforce for “years and years”
• Negative Sentiment: Broader software-sector AI fears are weighing on the group — new competitive features from AI rivals are stoking concerns about disruption and have pressured cloud/software names. This sector headwind is a key reason for recent weakness. Software experiencing ‘most exciting moment’ as AI fears hammer the stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term valuation and sentiment concerns: coverage pieces warn CRM may be a “value trap” after a 42% year decline and a recent 52-week low, keeping some investors cautious. Is CRM Stock A Value Play Or A Value Trap?

Salesforce 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.