First Trust Advisors LP Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its Salesforce stake by 10.7% in Q1, buying 358,166 more shares and bringing its total holding to 3.71 million shares worth about $693.1 million.
• Institutional ownership in Salesforce remains high, with several other hedge funds also adding or initiating positions and institutions owning 80.43% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally constructive: the stock has an average Moderate Buy rating with a $249.51 target, though some firms have cut ratings or price targets amid competitive and valuation concerns.

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,712,868 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 358,166 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 0.5% of First Trust Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.45% of Salesforce worth $693,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 683,790 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $181,143,000 after purchasing an additional 24,332 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 17,394 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,608,000 after buying an additional 7,871 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,004,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $997,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $142,521,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Salesforce from $194.00 to $173.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.51.

Key Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts still see Salesforce as attractively valued versus peers, citing faster AI growth and stronger earnings revisions, which supports the case for further upside. Salesforce vs. Adobe: Which Enterprise Software Stock Has the Edge?
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce continues to draw investor attention, and some bullish commentary points to the stock being far below prior levels with meaningful upside if execution improves. Salesforce Cratered 33% in 2026. One Analyst Sees It Exploding Nearly 200%
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s technology is still being adopted in mission-critical settings, including a broader U.S. Air Force rollout of Missionforce for fleet management. Salesforce (CRM) Lands Broad Air Force Role Managing A Global Military Vehicle Fleet
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce remains a widely watched stock, but this mainly reflects ongoing investor interest rather than a clear new fundamental catalyst. Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Salesforce with Adyen and other stocks is mostly informational and does not appear to be a major driver on its own. CRM vs. ADYEY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s downgrade and sharply reduced price target are the clearest near-term negative catalysts, reinforcing concerns that upside may be more limited than previously expected. Salesforce slides on back of Morgan Stanley downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: A report about a company canceling a large Salesforce contract in favor of an AI-built CRM highlights competitive pressure from lower-cost, AI-native alternatives. Curative CEO says company ditched a $600k-a-year Salesforce contract after vibecoding a CRM in 2 months
• Negative Sentiment: Fireflies’ new AI Sales Suite adds another AI-driven competitor in sales intelligence and CRM-adjacent software, which could add to long-term competitive concerns for Salesforce. Fireflies launches AI Sales Suite, bringing enterprise sales intelligence to its 20 million users at a fraction of what legacy platforms charge

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $170.37 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $170.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.35. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $274.00. The company has a market cap of $139.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $11.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.58 earnings per share. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

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.

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