421,279 Shares in Salesforce Inc. $CRM Acquired by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management acquired 421,279 Salesforce shares worth approximately $66 million, representing about 0.05% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $3.88 versus the $3.13 consensus and revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, or $1.76 annually, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $249.87; leverage from debt-funded buybacks remains a key risk.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 421,279 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $65,998,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned approximately 0.05% of Salesforce as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $11,396,844,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $12,552,896,000 after acquiring an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $3,182,951,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Salesforce by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $844,928,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $209.20 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 firm has a market cap of $171.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.56.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.58 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. CLSA initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $187.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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