Empowered Funds LLC Buys Shares of 170,123 Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 170,123 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,651,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Birchwood Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 285.7% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $228.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure cut their price target on Salesforce from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.15.

Salesforce Trading Up 22.6%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $252.15 on Friday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $179.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.32 and a 52-week high of $269.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a return on equity of 23.35% and a net margin of 21.99%.The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Salesforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly performance: Salesforce reported adjusted EPS of $5.90, well above the $3.27 consensus, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, slightly exceeding expectations. Profit was also helped by gains on strategic investments, including Salesforce’s stake in Anthropic. Salesforce stock jumps on AI growth and Anthropic investment gain
• Positive Sentiment: Raised outlook: Management lifted fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion and EPS guidance to $16.67-$16.71. Third-quarter EPS guidance of $3.42-$3.44 also topped the $3.16 analyst estimate, signaling confidence in demand and profitability. Salesforce raises annual revenue forecasts on AI product momentum
• Positive Sentiment: AI adoption is gaining traction: Current remaining performance obligations accelerated 14% in constant currency, while Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion. Reports also highlighted a sixfold increase in AI usage, supporting the view that AI may expand Salesforce’s platform rather than replace it. Jim Cramer says Nvidia and Salesforce earnings upended two bear narratives
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnership expands Salesforce’s AI offering: The “Claudeforce” initiative integrates Anthropic’s Claude with Salesforce workflows, data and governance, including prebuilt sales skills. Investors view the partnership as a potential catalyst for Agentforce adoption and AI monetization. Salesforce and Anthropic announce Claudeforce
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst reaction improved: JPMorgan, Mizuho, BMO, Truist and Monness Crespi raised their price targets, with targets ranging from $260 to $300; Needham maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target. The results were widely described as weakening the “SaaSpocalypse” bear thesis. Salesforce Q2 results squash SaaSpocalypse fears

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.