Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Invests $1.13 Million in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management acquired 7,199 Salesforce shares worth approximately $1.13 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 80.43% of Salesforce.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.87, despite some downgrades and concerns about slowing software growth.
• Salesforce recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while investors are watching upcoming results for evidence of AI-driven growth acceleration. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.44, yielding about 0.8% annually.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,199 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24,056.7% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 47,385,511 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $12,552,896,000 after buying an additional 47,189,352 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,182,951,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after buying an additional 7,160,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $844,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BTIG Research reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $255 price target, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. The bullish view reflects confidence in Salesforce’s AI opportunity and earnings outlook. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: One analyst argues Salesforce remains undervalued, citing its AI-enabled growth potential, modest valuation and significant share repurchases. The company’s reported $27.5 billion buyback has reduced shares outstanding and could provide support for earnings per share and the stock. Salesforce Forcing Itself Higher Through Massive Buybacks And AI-Led Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect AI cloud demand, acquisitions and disciplined spending to support second-quarter results, with revenue growth forecast at approximately 10.6%. Salesforce is also being discussed as a potential beneficiary of broader enterprise AI adoption. Salesforce Set to Report Q2 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Salesforce has rallied toward the $210 area and is testing a resistance zone near its June high. A strong earnings reaction could determine whether the recent advance continues or stalls. Salesforce Stock Hits a Crucial Resistance Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: The main risk is that Salesforce’s earnings report fails to demonstrate a meaningful sales-growth reacceleration. Analysts and investors remain cautious about slower software growth, elevated AI expectations and the possibility that the broader AI trade could weaken. Salesforce Earnings Due: Will Sales Growth Reacceleration Hold Up?

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $253.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.87.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.0%

CRM stock opened at $209.19 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $146.32 and a one year high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The business had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. 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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