Bank of Nova Scotia Takes $58.71 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 374,785 Salesforce shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $58.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported quarterly revenue of $11.13 billion, up 13.3% year over year, and EPS of $3.88, beating analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $249.87.
• Investor sentiment is supported by Salesforce’s AI growth prospects and major share repurchases, but risks include higher leverage from debt-funded buybacks and concerns that slowing growth or disappointing AI monetization could make the stock a value trap.

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 374,785 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $58,714,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $255,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $4,594,000. Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $575,000. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $5,133,000. Finally, Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,470,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

Salesforce Stock Up 1.8%

Salesforce stock opened at $209.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.56. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The business's revenue 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $185.00 price target (down from $287.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. HC Wainwright lowered Salesforce to a "negative" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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