Associated Banc Corp Buys 88,832 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jan 11th, 2026

Associated Banc Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 179,635 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 88,832 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 1.1% of Associated Banc Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $42,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $2,826,049,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $933,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,700 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $538,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,297 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Salesforce by 26.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,755,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,087,545,000 after buying an additional 1,612,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Salesforce by 45.8% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,931,945 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,072,202,000 after buying an additional 1,234,969 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $580,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,567,632.20. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 96,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $260.58 per share, with a total value of $25,015,680.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,994,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $780,309,155.22. The trade was a 3.31% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 155,034 shares of company stock valued at $36,726,584 in the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $260.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $243.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.26. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.96 and a 12 month high of $367.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $250.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.54.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.39. Salesforce had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 14.41%. The company had revenue of $10.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.020-3.040 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Macquarie increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Northland Capmk lowered Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.74.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Salesforce

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlighted five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM for 2026, arguing Salesforce has an attractive AI/cloud runway that could make it a top trade this year. MarketBeat: Five reasons to buy-and-hold CRM
Positive Sentiment: The Motley Fool and 247WallStreet pieces both profile Salesforce as underappreciated on AI upside — suggesting the market hasn’t fully priced in its “agentic AI” roadmap or potential enterprise expansion. These narratives support a longer-term bullish case. Fool: Should you forget Palantir and buy these 2 tech stocks? 247WallSt: 2 Stocks That Don’t Have Enough AI Priced In
Positive Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains constructive — AmericanBankingNews reports an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy.” That supports investor confidence despite recent weakness. Salesforce receives average recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
Neutral Sentiment: Jim Cramer has Salesforce on his radar, drawing attention to the company amid sector turmoil; coverage like this can add visibility but is not a direct catalyst. Jim Cramer Discusses Salesforce (CRM)’s Business
Neutral Sentiment: The Globe and Mail highlighted a Zacks feature that mentions Salesforce alongside Adobe as notable ideas — more media/analyst attention that reinforces the stock’s profile. Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Adobe and Salesforce
Negative Sentiment: Yahoo Finance flags that Salesforce’s AI revenue base is still small and that rising API costs could pressure margins — that raises the risk that the company’s margin story may be weaker than investors expect. Did Salesforce’s Small AI Revenue Base and Higher API Costs Just Recast Its Margin Story?
Negative Sentiment: Zacks and other outlets emphasize CRM’s ~18–20% drop over the past year — headline pieces questioning whether the stock is still a hold add selling pressure and keep sentiment cautious. Salesforce Plunges 20% in a Year
Negative Sentiment: Short news blurbs (MSN/headlines) noting that CRM is sinking while broader markets gain amplify the perception of underperformance versus peers. Salesforce.com (CRM) stock sinks as market gains

Salesforce Profile

(Free Report)

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.