Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its Salesforce stake by 70.8% in the first quarter, selling 142,810 shares and retaining 58,853 shares valued at approximately $11.0 million.
• Institutional sentiment was mixed: while some funds reduced holdings, Arrowstreet Capital increased its position by 130.2%, and institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce’s stock.
• Salesforce continues to receive support from its earnings performance and AI-focused growth narrative, including a potential $1.6 billion Veterans Affairs agreement. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $249.51, versus a reported share price of $181.42.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 70.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,853 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 142,810 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund's holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 281,677 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $52,581,000 after buying an additional 3,194 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 2,424 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Salesforce by 130.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $1,986,000. Finally, Pincus Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Pincus Capital Management LP now owns 6,059 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines 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?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Susquehanna started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.51.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $181.42 on Wednesday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.32 and a twelve month high of $274.00. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $170.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.08. The firm has a market cap of $148.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.18.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

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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