CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Takes $705,000 Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,500 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $705,000. Salesforce comprises 1.0% of CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 10,198 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Salesforce from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.15.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2%

CRM stock opened at $256.60 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.16. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.32 and a 52 week high of $269.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $181.24 and a 200 day moving average of $182.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly beat and raised outlook: Salesforce reported adjusted EPS of $5.90 versus the $3.27 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 10.8% year over year to $11.35 billion, broadly topping expectations. Management raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to approximately $46.1 billion-$46.4 billion and pointed to stronger bookings, lower attrition and potential organic growth reacceleration. Salesforce Stock Soars After Strong Results, Raised Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: AI partnership strengthens the growth narrative: Salesforce expanded its alliance with Anthropic, integrating Claude into Agentforce and launching “Claudeforce,” which places Salesforce CRM capabilities inside Claude. Investors viewed the agreement as evidence that Salesforce can monetize AI and benefit from rising usage; Agentforce and Data 360 annual recurring revenue approached $3.9 billion, with Agentforce ARR reaching about $1.5 billion. Salesforce Soars on Earnings Beat and AI Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional support: Wolfe Research upgraded CRM to “strong buy,” while several firms raised price targets, including Truist to $300, JPMorgan to $265 and Mizuho to $265. Heavy trading and reports of institutional buying suggest investors are reassessing the stock’s valuation and the broader software sector’s AI prospects.
• Neutral Sentiment: Profit quality warrants scrutiny: Strategic investment gains contributed $2.53 of the $5.90 adjusted EPS, including an estimated $2.7 billion unrealized gain tied to Salesforce’s Anthropic investment. This boosted reported earnings but may not represent recurring operating performance. Salesforce Stock Just Soared. Thank Anthropic.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks remain: After the rally, some analysts still see limited upside or downside, with UBS, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo retaining neutral or equivalent ratings. Critics also caution that Anthropic could control the AI orchestration layer, potentially limiting Salesforce’s long-term strategic leverage, while the rapid move may already price in much of the AI opportunity.

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.