North Star Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 72,375 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 72,375 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,338,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $26,651,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $12,426,000. Balanced Rock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $205,000. Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $602,000. Finally, Bank OZK acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $588,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 22.6%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $252.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $206.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.03. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 23.35%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly performance: Salesforce reported adjusted EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, slightly exceeding expectations. Profit was also helped by gains on strategic investments, including Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic. Salesforce stock jumps on AI growth and Anthropic investment gain
• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook: Management lifted fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion and EPS guidance to $16.67-$16.71. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $3.42-$3.44 also topped the $3.16 analyst estimate, signaling confidence in demand and profitability. Salesforce raises annual revenue forecasts on AI product momentum
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is gaining traction: Current remaining performance obligations accelerated 14% in constant currency, while Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion. Reports also highlighted a sixfold increase in AI usage, supporting the view that AI may expand Salesforce’s platform rather than replace it. Jim Cramer says Nvidia and Salesforce earnings upended two bear narratives
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership expands Salesforce’s AI offering: The “Claudeforce” initiative integrates Anthropic’s Claude with Salesforce workflows, data and governance, including prebuilt sales skills. Investors view the partnership as a potential catalyst for Agentforce adoption and AI monetization. Salesforce and Anthropic announce Claudeforce
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst reaction improved: JPMorgan, Mizuho, BMO, Truist and Monness Crespi raised their price targets, with targets ranging from $260 to $300; Needham maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target. The results were widely described as weakening the “SaaSpocalypse” bear thesis. Salesforce Q2 results squash SaaSpocalypse fears

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $261.15.

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.