California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 56,183 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Salesforce stake by 3.8%, selling 56,183 shares and retaining 1.41 million shares valued at approximately $262.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.43% of the company.
• Salesforce reported quarterly earnings of $3.88 per share and revenue of $11.13 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew 13.3% year over year. The company also secured a potential $1.6 billion Veterans Affairs agreement supporting its government-cloud and AI strategy.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable but mixed: Salesforce has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $249.51, despite some recent downgrades and concerns about software valuations and the pace of AI monetization.

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,407,766 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 56,183 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Salesforce worth $262,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,548,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 4,239 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,123,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 6,186 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,236 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 745 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank cut shares of Salesforce from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.51.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A three-year U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs agreement with a potential value of $1.6 billion is strengthening Salesforce’s government-cloud narrative. The contract expands use of Missionforce, Agentforce, Slack, MuleSoft, Tableau and Data 360 across the VA’s nationwide network, highlighting demand for Salesforce’s AI agents and unified data platform. Will Salesforce’s (CRM) US$1.6 Billion VA AI Deal Redefine Its Government-Cloud Narrative?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce was among the enterprise-software leaders in a broad rebound, with investors rotating toward companies positioned to benefit from AI adoption. The sector rally helped lift sentiment after a period of heavy selling. Salesforce Surges 7%, ServiceNow Jumps 8%, Workday Jumps 10% as Software Rebounds on AI Rotation
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary on Salesforce’s earnings move points to continued investor interest following its latest quarterly results, when the company exceeded consensus expectations for both earnings and revenue. The beat supports the view that cost discipline and AI-related products can drive growth. Why Did Salesforce Lead Index Gainers After Its Earnings Move?
• Neutral Sentiment: Night View Capital describes AI as a transformative, economy-wide technology and cites Salesforce as an important platform for corporate AI deployment. The discussion is supportive of the long-term thesis but does not represent a new contract or change to financial guidance. Salesforce’s Impact on AI Deployment in Corporate Environments
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” view, while investors weigh Salesforce against other beaten-down Dow companies as a potential dip-buying opportunity. Salesforce Receives Consensus Rating of Moderate Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the rebound, Salesforce remains well below its 52-week high, reflecting lingering concerns about software-sector valuations, competition and the pace at which AI investments translate into recurring revenue. Disney or Salesforce: Which Beaten-Down Dow Giant Is the Smarter Dip-Buy?

Salesforce Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $181.42 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $274.00. The stock has a market cap of $148.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business's 50 day moving average is $170.00 and its 200-day moving average is $186.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a net margin of 18.73% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.58 earnings per share. The firm'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. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors 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 1.0%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

About Salesforce

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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