Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 31.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,397,084 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 809,856 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $634,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright cut shares of Salesforce to a “negative” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.51.

Salesforce Stock Up 5.9%

CRM opened at $173.34 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $169.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $141.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.32 and a 12 month high of $274.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted earnings of $3.88 per share versus the $3.13 consensus and revenue of $11.13 billion versus $11.05 billion expected. Revenue increased 13.3% year over year, reinforcing confidence in the company’s execution and AI-related growth strategy. Why Did Salesforce Lead Index Gainers After Its Earnings Move?
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded Salesforce, through its distribution network, a three-year Agentic Enterprise License Agreement with a potential value of $1.60 billion. The deal could expand use of Missionforce, Agentforce, Slack, MuleSoft, Tableau and Data 360 across a healthcare network serving approximately 17 million veterans, strengthening Salesforce’s government-cloud and AI-agent credentials. Salesforce’s $1.6 Billion VA AI Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Salesforce participated in a broader rebound among enterprise-software stocks as investors rotated toward AI beneficiaries. The sector move provided additional momentum for CRM, alongside gains in ServiceNow and Workday. Software Rebounds on AI Rotation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, while valuation-focused coverage highlights Salesforce as a potential long-term growth stock based on its recurring-revenue model, profitability and AI initiatives. Salesforce Receives Moderate Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on the quarterly earnings outlook and whether Agentforce and other AI products can translate into accelerating growth. Expectations are elevated ahead of results, making future guidance important for sustaining the rally. Salesforce’s Quarterly Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with SAP and ServiceNow emphasize Salesforce’s competitive position in agentic AI, but also underscore ongoing investor concerns about intense competition and the pace of monetization. Salesforce vs. ServiceNow

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.