Equitable Holdings Inc. Makes New $8.41 Million Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 53,688 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,411,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,509,000. Harvey Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,176,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,111,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $49,043,000. Finally, MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,835,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $252.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. 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. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $269.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.03.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. The firm’s 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, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce News Summary

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Salesforce from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. HC Wainwright downgraded Salesforce to a “negative” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Salesforce from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.