CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Takes $705,000 Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought 4,500 Salesforce shares worth approximately $705,000 during the second quarter, making CRM 1% of the fund’s holdings. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Salesforce reported a strong quarterly performance, with adjusted EPS of $5.90 versus the $3.27 consensus estimate and revenue up 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion. The company also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to approximately $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Salesforce carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $261.15. However, investors should note that strategic investment gains significantly boosted earnings, while valuation and execution risks surrounding its AI strategy remain.

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,500 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $705,000. Salesforce makes up 1.0% of CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.4% during the third quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 2,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 199 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 8,254 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,187,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,098 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $228.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $261.15.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly beat and raised outlook: Salesforce reported adjusted EPS of $5.90 versus the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, broadly topping expectations. Management raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to approximately $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion and pointed to stronger bookings, lower attrition and potential organic growth reacceleration. Salesforce Stock Soars After Strong Results, Raised Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership strengthens the growth narrative: Salesforce expanded its alliance with Anthropic, integrating Claude into Agentforce and launching “Claudeforce,” which places Salesforce CRM capabilities inside Claude. Investors viewed the agreement as evidence that Salesforce can monetize AI and benefit from rising usage; Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion, with Agentforce ARR reaching about $1.5 billion. Salesforce Soars on Earnings Beat and AI Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support: Wolfe Research upgraded CRM to “strong buy,” while several firms raised price targets, including Truist to $300, JPMorgan to $265 and Mizuho to $265. Heavy trading and reports of institutional buying suggest investors are reassessing the stock’s valuation and the broader software sector’s AI prospects.
• Neutral Sentiment: Profit quality warrants scrutiny: Strategic investment gains contributed $2.53 of the $5.90 adjusted EPS, including an estimated $2.7 billion unrealized gain tied to Salesforce’s Anthropic investment. This boosted reported earnings but may not represent recurring operating performance. Salesforce Stock Just Soared. Thank Anthropic.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks remain: After the rally, some analysts still see limited upside or downside, with UBS, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo retaining neutral or equivalent ratings. Critics also caution that Anthropic could control the AI orchestration layer, potentially limiting Salesforce’s long-term strategic leverage, while the rapid move may already price in much of the AI opportunity.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:CRM opened at $256.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $211.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 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 company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 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 24.90%. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.91 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source